The Twisted Thoughts of Dreams and Death
by scandiacamoons
Summary: Two powerful nations who thirst for more power have sent a clueless low class people, who have been ordered to travel deep into the forest no one dares to go into, to gain an alliance with a village. They later strike a deal with the leader, their confidence high before they start to question whether if the moral they know are actually correct. Demon!AlfredxAngel!Arthur
1. The earring and the beginning

Creatures roamed the land of what they called their Mother, who nurtured and pampered them from the beginning of their time to the current. They formed groups, cults to survive against others, their pact strong as they stood by those they were superior with. Some dominated the lands, other the sky, the sea, and the ground. But some empires became too big, the territory they shared in harmony with the others and Mother disrupted as they forced their way into other territory, other domains. Differences clashed against each other, their disagreement for the want for power strong as they stood by the fine line between peace and destruction. They were one step away from the downfall.

The chance of meeting a powerful opponent terrified two specific empires, their need for power still uncontrollable as they seeked a way for security. That's when they began their many campaigns, sending off their citizens to seek out the help and support of others, for what may come to the future. Most of the groups that were questioned about the treaty were weary, none of them too fond of others disrupting their stable system that they shared only with their species of citizens. But they were reassured, told that everything would stay the same, maybe become even better, stronger if they could see eye to eye. They were told that if anything happened to them, the empire will do everything to help those that wished for assistance while they hoped to expect the same with them. From the crushing boundaries and the pressure from those around as well as the very few bribes of power and money, many gave in, their citizens hoping for the best in this change.

The two dominating kingdoms that constantly clashed with each other were different in many ways. One reached for the sky as they preached for purity, and lived the sophisticated life of hierarchy as they obeyed those that were above them without questioning. The other lived in the pits of the ground, their wealth unmatchable as they enjoyed the idea of justice, for equality amongst those in the kingdom. One was bleached to the brightest white, the halos above their head shining with both superiority and warmth, along with their wings that loved to stretch it's beautifully white feathers while the other was drenched in black, their teeth sharpened at the point as they watched those around them with their piercing eyes, their tail flickering in unison with their emotions as their wings were leathery black with horns on their head that curled from old age.

The two were known enemies, their wishes to get what the other has strong as they built up their plan for success, power and land. Everyone knew to never oppose those that lived in the kingdom above, that were chosen by the almighty God and those in the ground, a kingdom reigned by Satan, for what lengths they may go, was unpredictable.

They came to the angel without any warning, almost out of thin air. He was farming, the harvest just as great as the year before. His fingers were sore, calluses on his palms that were slightly tan along with the red of a sun burn. The only part of his body that was spared by the warm rays of the sun was his face, that was covered by a straw hat that was wearing down from overuse.

"The council wishes for you to travel to the lower world to form a treaty with those we have yet to join forces with. We will send you a form about the village that you will be sent to along with all the other supplies you will be needing on your journey. Please be ready by dawn tomorrow for your departure and we will notify the gatekeepers to open the gate as well as notifying the agricultural council of your absence. Thank you for your time and I hope your journey is successful. May we thank the ones above us."

This was all too sudden for the angel, his first reaction being nothing less than a few stutters of confusion as he watched the informer fly away, through the invisible barrier that separated the society of those who lived in the empire of the sky. He soon recovered, still confused on what happened in the span of less than a minute as he finished picking all of the oranges before hurrying over to the farm apartment, home to many of the others that worked in the fields.

He was finally going to be able to help his empire, and that excited him. Immortality had its ups but that was unless you had an interesting job that you wouldn't mind working for the rest of time. He was finally going to do something more productive that would actually help the land he is proud to grow up in, proud to be of assistance for God.

His departure the next day was a success, the angel finally seeing the beauty of the tall golden gates that he had heard so much of, the gate covered in intricate designs that must have took a lifetime to finish as it seemed to sparkle wherever you were standing. To the side of the gate were walls, going on for eternity in both ways. After he introduced himself to the gate keepers covered in armor, the gate was opened, the weight of the gate causing a bit of noise as they opened it wide enough for the angel to squeeze through.

He walked for a bit, the white ground starting to feel softer and bumpier until he stopped. He was at the edge of the clouds, right above the vast land that extended everywhere. He took in a deep breath, admiring the sight he had never seen during the hundreds of years of his lifetime, this being the first time. The emerald eyes continue to gaze at the new territories before he tightly gripped onto the bag around his shoulders, his eyes closed as he jumped off into the unknown.

He had never felt so freer.

The demon's story was a bit different. He was hanging out with his friends, just like any other normal day after work. It was until he received a sudden call, a government official on the the side asking whether if he was willing to do something for the government, to help out the empire. The demon immediately agreed. He met up with him later at an office, their conversation quickly turning to business as they discussed the reason behind the sudden call.

"As you know, tensions is always high between us and." The man pointed a finger up at the sky before rolling his eyes slightly. The demon nodded. "But we have noticed a sudden increase in their landing on the surface recently, and we can start to assume that they are planning to start taking major actions soon."

The demon continued nodding his head, his black hair flying in his vision as he waited for the man in the suit to continue. "Because of that we are also sending out more of our men to try and get treaties settled with those people who have yet to form an alliance. So, we essentially have a shortage in people right now so we were wondering if you would be willing to step up to the surface." The man said as he fitted his hands together, watching the demon curiously for an answer as he leaned back in the swivel chair. "Of course this is completely your option and we won't take it to heart if you turn us down-"

"No!" the demon suddenly said, almost jumping out of his chair before he noticed what he was doing, seating himself back comfortably in the chair. The man in the swivel chair watched him, his emotion unreadable from years of working in a tough atmosphere. "I mean, yes! I'll definitely do it! You have my word sir!"

The man leaned forward, his arm extended out the two shook hands, a silent promise that the demon was never to back out of.

The files came soon after, one after another, signature after signature, all of them agreeing to the same thing. Some time had passed when they finally finished, the demon laying the probably expensive fountain pen onto the table gently.

"Well, since you've already done this before once, I going to guess you already know the drills." the demon nodded his head which felt like the umph-millionth time.

"Please tell me again Jones, which group did you successfully convince?"

"The Cyclops sir," the demon quickly replied, straightening his back a bit. The man looked back down at a piece a paper, skimming over the words that had been inked out perfectly, thanks to their advancement in technology compared to the others in the world.

"Ah yes, the Cyclops. The insanely strong yet, not the brightest beings on the planet. You would think the opposite with how big their heads are. I'm guessing you convinced them easily into the agreement, seeing that it only took you 4 days total, counting the days of travel for the way up and down." The man lowered the paper and leaned forward onto his arms that were half laying on the desk, looking at the demon.

"Well, I guess you could say that…" the demon mumbled a bit before he dryly chuckled. The man's blood red eyes peaked from the sunglasses, staring into the demon. "I heard they loved competition so I challenged their strongest one to a match in our strengths. If he won, I would leave their group alone; If I win, we gain a new alliance. And, I think you can guess what happened in the end."

The man nodded slightly before he reached his hand out to a pile of paper, pulling the one on the top onto the desk. He then turned and pushed it forward toward the demon who leaned forward.

"This is the village you will be traveling too. It's about a days trip north from the portal 52." The demon pulled the paper from the desk, holding it delicately in his hands as he leaned on his arms that were balanced on his legs.

"As you can see, we have no pictures of the village. All we know is that it's somewhere deep in the forest of Mansi. We can't seem to find anything no matter how many times we fly over it and the journey in the forest itself is dangerous, anyway to those that have failed to complete the task." The demon hummed in agreement.

"Alfred," the man suddenly said. The demon looked up, a bit petrified on the spot when their gaze connected. "This town is rather special. We don't know what it has in stores but all we know that it holds maybe one of the strongest beings out there. A few hundred years ago there was fire at the same time not really. A phoenix died there." The demon's eyes narrowed, his mind confused. "Ever since then we have been keeping tab about that forest, and what we discovered was some interesting stuff such as high magic use. We have sent many, many people on this mission to get their alliance, but all of them came back with no success." The man leaned back in the chair as he crossed his legs, not breaking the gaze for a single moment.

"This isn't going to be easy Jones. But know that this whole nation is counting on your success. This could mean a change in power if you know what I mean," he said, chuckling a bit as he looked down at his shoes.

"Yes, I understand sir," the demon said, still a bit confused. He wanted to ask many questioned, starting with the obvious. "But why are they sending me to do this?"

The demon watched as the man swiveled around, looking at the white walls that were becoming yellow in some areas before standing up, straightening his outfit. "I don't know Jones. I really don't know."

The demon nodded for the last time as he pushed himself up from his seat, pushing his glasses back into place while holding onto the information sheet as the man watched him. "All the items that you will be needing will be waiting for you outside. Remember, don't forget your uniform." The demon saluted to the man, smiling a tiny bit before he exited out the door, taking the bag that a man was holding out for him.

"Thank you," the demon mumbled as he watched the man turn around and walk away, before he too started to make his way back to his apartment, to pack up for this journey.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

It had all been fun in the beginning, but now it was terrifying to the angel. He had an immense amount of fun, finally being able to fly around so freely whenever he pleased. Everything was new to him. Plants he had never seen were scattered everywhere, trees reaching heights he never imagined they could grow up too. This ended up delaying his journey a few days. Throughout the final day he flew for a bit before he came upon a forest, his map that he received from the council telling him to land and walk, for a reason the angel didn't understand. Only a few minutes after stepping into the area of over grown organism, his surrounding became dark because of the lack of sunlight that reached the forest floor.

The angel had been walking for a while, using some of his magic to create a source of light for where he was going. At first he continued to walk forward, shoving the map into his cloth satchel for it had no more directions. It was until he heard some rustling movements, the angel jumping back a bit as his light disappeared. He stayed still for a while, trying to hear sounds of what may be spying on him, before he turned toward a random direction and ran.

He didn't stop running. Multiple times he almost fell to the ground because of either a tree root or rock or something the angel didn't take note of for how much he was panicking. He kept running until an unknown pain sprouted from his side, his breaths coming out short. He leaned against a tree for support as he breathed, trying to calm himself down at the same time trying to be quiet. A sudden hoot echoed through the forest a bit, before the rustling of the trees and the flaps of wings and the snapping of a twig and the sound of a small growl and the crunching of leaves and the howl of a great beast echoed throughout the forest. A shiver reverberated through the angel before ducking down, curling up into a slight ball as his wings were compacted tight, making him seem like a lifeless item as he wished to return back to home, fear pulsing inside of him. He kept his eyes shut as he waited for the worst.

Then something came. Twigs cracking under its weights as it continued moving, a slight whoosh sound being made from something as a whistle echoed through the silent forest. The angel's eyes shot open.

It doesn't take much for someone to know something was off. The only thing that would whistle was a bird or an intelligent being, and there should be no birds awake at such a time. The angel shoved his hands into the bush, pushing it silently as he peaked out at where the whistling was coming from, dimming his halo down as much as he could so it wouldn't give away his place. He gazed toward the source as he kept his breath held in, staring at it with slight disbelief and a tint of anger.

Walking was a man, a thick brown jacket over the uniform he wore along with a backpack. His hands were shoved into the pocket of his pants as he walked, walking in a nonchalant manner as he continued to whistle. But the angel didn't care about that. He was looking at the swinging tail that curled a bit every few seconds along with the black leathery wings that peaked out from under the backpack a bit, moving a tiny bit to feel comfortable.

The angel felt infuriated. How dare one of them go to the town he was assigned to form an alliance, how dare they! He was finally going to do something, and he was going to complete it no matter what. He reached down to his cloth satchel, rummaging his hand a bit before he found the item he was looking for, gripping onto the handle as he prepared for what going to happen next, for there was no way he was going to allow his chance of success to be ruined. His heart accelerated in a pace he had not felt in a while, the adrenaline pumping throughout his system.

The forest was dark; leaves, twigs, and dead plants as well as some weeds was scattered all over the forest floor. Some of the moon light had found its way to the bottom, thin silvery strands spotting the ground, creating a mysterious atmosphere. The few croaks of toads and frogs were heard from a nearby water source, along with some crickets that played for the others, small sound continuing to spread throughout the forest until a mans pace became a run, the blade of the knife he held illuminating for a second when it hit the moon's light.

The two of them crashed to the ground with a thump, the demon silent in surprise as the angel was silent in anger, the knife inches away from piercing the demon's uniform as the demon's hands forcefully held it back from actually happening. The angel tried pushing a bit more, only for the demon to push the angel off of him, the angel stumbling back and bit as he tried to regain his posture in a sitting position. The demon jumped up from the ground before he ran, hiding behind a tree as he tried to quietly take off his backpack, searching for something that he could use as defense as he threw his glasses in there. It didn't take long for him to find his knife, the blade just as dark as the night itself. He cursed under his breath a bit, swearing that it would have been nice if they told him about someone from the aboves were also here to get the town. The grip around the knife tightened a bit as his eyes narrowed, all of his senses sharpened as he awaited for his opponents next turn.

A sudden sound of crushing leaves warned the demon about the approach, swiftly turning around to face the inedible. With quick thinking the demon flicked his tail, wrapping it around the lower part of the knife to pull it out of the surprised angel's hand. Even as the angel watched the knife being pulled out of his hands, his momentum didn't stop, crashing in the demon again, his wings flapping madly in panic. From the sudden attack, the demon flailed his arms a bit in an unknown movement, until he felt something drip onto him, the angel breath hitching before releasing a pant with pain as he scurried off of the demon. The demon sat up, swiping his fingers over his wet clothes to bring it up to his nose for a sniff, before he wiped it on the ground, the smell of iron still remaining in his nose.

As the demon regained his stance the angel held onto his left wing, watching the white turn red even though the forest lacked light. He bit down on his lip from the pain, drawing some more unnecessary blood before he dashed to the side, searching for the knife blindly. His hand came upon something cold and sharp, gripping onto it tightly as he peeked up to find the demon.

Right when the demon regained his balance again something pierced into his side, a groan escaping the demon mouth as he spun his head to see the angel, pushing, shoving the blade even deeper into his side. The demon's tail whipped from panic, the sharp end cutting the angel's cheek as he stared down at the blood that was soaking through the demon's clothes before being forcefully pushed away, landing against a tree.

A sudden pain erupted from the angel's arm as he looked down, a black knife embedded deep in his skin, the blood trickling down in an immense speed as he looked up at the demon, his teeth clenched down hard as his eyes screamed anger. The demon was slouching forward a bit, panting as the hand that threw the knife was lowered onto the knife in his hip, pulling it out in one swift agonizing yank before he yelped and dropped the knife, his fingers sizzling a bit from the pain of touching such a holy item. He looked up, his eyebrows furrowed down as he was surging with anger, the unsettling feeling to crush something to the max.

The angel was the first one to move, running away as he glanced down at his arm, the knife still there. He leaned against a new tree as he tugged it out in several pulls, grinding his teeth together in pain as he finally got it out, throwing it to the ground so he could cover the wound that was spilling out the bright red liquid. He winced a bit when he pulled his hand away from the wound, his stomach churning as he had never seen so much blood in his lifetime.

A sudden movement caught the angel's eye, moving his face just in time to dodge a fist that pounded against the tree, the wood cracking as the sound spread throughout the forest, the tree breaking in half. The angel looked up with fear, swallowing the access spit and blood that had accumulated in his mouth. All he saw was the jet black color of the demon's hair along with the tan white horns that curled down at the end, and the man's red eyes that reflected the moonlight. His tightly shut mouth opened up to form a demonic smile, wide enough for the angel to see the sharp points of their canine as he felt an uncomfortable shiver run through his spine. His face is so close, the angel noted as the demon breathed, goosebumps forming wherever his warm moist breath touched. He closed his eyes tightly, only to hear the steady breathing of the demon and the erratic breathing of his heart as he held his breath in.

"Ready to leave God?"

The angel didn't know what he did after he heard those words. Hearing his superior's name being called aggravated him, the thought that someone so low could say such a sacred name, and before he knew it used up a fair amount of his magic in an offensive attack, his magic now running low. Before he could receive anything else from the demon he ran, tucking his wings as much as he could to not risk the chance of getting them hurt anymore.

The demon stared down at the ground, watching some more blood drip as he quickly glance at his side. He had thankfully dodged the powerful attack, but the same could not have been said for his wings that now had several holes that got singed off. He then kicked the remaining part of the tree that was still standing, it joining the rest of its parts as it fell to the ground. The demon yelled in vexation and rage, his deep voice rippling through the forest ground as it awakened many things.

The angel ran for a bit, his pace quickening when he heard the yelling of the demon. The only time he stopped was when he fortunately came across his bag and knife, passing for a moment to pick the two up before continuing. He soon made it to a clearing, the only thing there being tall grass as he ran through it, trying to flap his wings to escape, only to cause more pain from the deep cut. Suddenly, he was tackled, wrestling against a powerful force as they rolled around for a bit, flattening out the soft grass that was now covered in red.

They struggled against each other for a while. The angel got one last slice on the demon's collarbone before the knife was wacked out of his hand, the demon biting down onto the angel's wrist with his powerful jaw. The angel yelled with pain before he kicked his legs, a lucky one hitting the demon right in between his legs as the angel pushed himself away from the demon and quickly crawled toward the knife. Right when the angel picked it up he threw it, the demon quickly catching it with his hand, the knife cutting into his skin as he clenched down on it, an audible sizzling noise being created from the touch of two opposite forces. He then finally released it, the angel gaze locking on the knife as he stared at its new crushed shape until he was tackled down again.

The fight lasted for a while after that. The demon's tail creating shallow but painful cuts all over the angel's skin as he gave him some punches, only one actually hitting him. They were both tired, losing a lot of blood as they kept rolling around for dominance and power until the angel finally straddled the other down, the demon's hands reaching up to grasp tightly onto the angel's neck, his nails digging into the side. The angel winced from the pain of having his windpipe crushed, barely enough breath escaping his mouth to incarnate a spell, a small but sudden light forming on the angel's hand before the ray of light was stabbed forcefully in the demon's chest. He yelled in pain as his grip around the angel loosened, enough for the angel to struggle free, slowly crawling away backwards as he watched the demon sit up. The demon looked down at the light that blinded his eyes that were used to the black of night as he pulled it out, yelling once again. The angel bit his lip in irritation before he started summoning more spells.

"Dammit why won't you die!?" The angel yelled in a frustrated tone as he sent a round of more rays at the sitting the demon. He was able to dodge most, but two found it's way into his stomach and shoulder, more agonizing yells of pain echoing through the field from the impact before he stood up, forcing the other back to the ground, the angel not having any more stored magic to summon more spells.

"Same can be said to-, you!" the demon said, the words barely making it out of his mouth as he clenched down on his teeth from the immense amount of pain his body was going through. His hands found their way back to the angel throat, this time his thumbs pressing on the center of the angel's throat as the angel's hands gripped onto the demon's hand, trying with his fragile strength to move the demon's hands off of him.

"Cause I'm - bloody immortal you… fucking fool… !" The angel barely said, little to no air making it to his lungs until suddenly, the grip around his throat loosened. The angel then began coughing for air, his hand holding onto his neck as he felt all of the cuts and bruises that had formed, his eyes teary as he looked up at the starry sky before the demon.

"What-?" He coughed out as he continued to stare at the demon, that was pushing himself up. "You're going to bloody run away now? Serves you cowards rights," He said as before he spat at the ground, his spit mostly blood. The demon flapped his wings a bit to stretch them out, wincing a bit as he continued to walk away back to the forest. The angel continued to yell insults as he pushed himself up, only to fall back onto the ground when he felt a painful pang in his ankle, the torment rapidly flowing through him. He lied down on his stomach as his breathing finally regulated, everywhere aching in pain he punched the ground, the bloody from his cuts seeping everywhere.

When the demon finally made it back into the forest, he leaned against the closest tree, huffing to stabilize his body as his vision became a bit distorted. What was the point of a physical battle when both people were immortal? If only he had know, he wouldn't have spent so much time and energy doing something so useless. He cursed a bit, annoyed in his lack of knowledge and the lack of warning he received from his higher aboves. The demon coughed a bit, the flavor of blood spreading in his mouth as he too spit some of the blood down at the ground. He sighed as he began limping deeper into the forest in hopes of finding his bag, and maybe finding the village before the measly angel did, his uniform soaked with blood as some dripped to the ground. After a few minutes of limping and leaning on every tree he could get to he looked down at the ground, his legs giving in as he fell with a thump. His eyes slowly closed, betraying his will to continue going on as the last thing he saw was green.

OOOOOOOO

The light was rather blinding to the angel, his eyelids scrunching up before he cautiously opened one eye. He tried to move his left arm to cover his eyes, only to hiss when he felt pain erupting from his shoulder. He used his other hand to push himself up a bit, the light sheet that was over him pooling to his lap, the tunic that he usually wore wrapped only on his hips. As he moved he tried stretching his wings out, one hitting the wall while the other retracted back with more pain. He breathed steadily, trying to keep himself from yelping in pain as he felt his whole body ache, feeling thoroughly bruised. He was covered in bandages, some stitches and gauze wrapped all around his body while he stunk of ointment.

When he finally felt more comfortable, he looked around at his surroundings. He was in a wooden room, which anyone would have been able to guess. The room was mediocre sized, a large window on two of the walls, the sunlight shining strongly as it brightened the room. Right under one of the windows across from the bed the angel was another bed, a man sleeping peacefully his hair and wings stood out strongly from the difference in color.

At first he didn't believe his eyes, rubbing them a bit, hoping that he was just seeing illusions. But after a tough rub it was proven to be real. The man moved a bit, turning his body so his face was toward the angel, groaning as he scrunched up his eyebrows before relaxing, a light snore escaping his lips. There in front of the angel, still alive, was the person that he had tried killing so many times before. The suddenness of events caused a turmoil in the angel's mind, going through options through options on what to do. He ended up summoning another small light spear, creating only a tiny bit a light before he flicked his finger, the spear aiming right for the throat for what the angel hoped would be the last time.

But before it could even get halfway across the room it was stopped, the fine green strands of the vine twisting it tightly as it's momentum came to a stop. The angel turned his head to the side, the overgrown fridges of his bangs flying into his vision slightly as he stared at what was standing right at the door.

It was an old woman, the shawl on her shoulders tied tightly over a clean button up shirt that had light green stripes going vertically. She wore a forest green skirt that came down to her ankles, a stained apron wrapped around her waist as she held onto a white box. The brown, graying locks of her hair was pulled up into a tight bun that was held by what seemed like nothing, revealing a green earring that was at the top of her ear. Her face was stern, her eyes narrowed onto the angel, some wrinkles forming on her forehead. The angel stared at her, surprised that someone was there.

"Lay down, lad," she commanded as she watched the vines still holding onto the light spear slither down to the ground, disappearing from the angel's sight.

"Ma'am, I don't think you understand what is going on. I need to kill this man." The angel pointed at the demon, ignoring the pain. "No ones killing anybody in this house," she replied back, her voice not faltering a bit as she continued to look at the angel's eyes.

"I'm sorry but I'm going to whether you agree or-"

Suddenly, something wrapped around the angel, his body being tied together tightly as his mouth was covered by a thick vine. When everything stopped moving, the angel had almost been cocooned by vines, the only thing that was spared was the halo that floated precisely above his head.

"Cannot believe I couldn't fucking detect you imbeciles last night," the woman cursed under her mouth as she stomped toward the angel who stared up at her with a bit of horror, his words muffled as he waited for what would happen next. A few vines detached itself from the angel, enough for the woman to reached out and pull the bloody bandages around his wing but not enough for him to escape. The cool tingled the cuts that were opened to the fresh air, instinctively flapping the wing as pain spiked everywhere. A vine came out, wrapping around the tip of his wings, stopping the movement as the woman opened the white box up, her hand dipping into a bottle as she scooped up a clear substance, smearing it all over the cut. the angel moaned a bit, the ointment soothing the cut as the pain started to diminish a bit, the wing relaxing as the woman finished up by wrapping a clear bloodless gauze, finishing it with a small bow.

This process continued; the vines unwinding in some areas for the woman to smear some more of the amazing ointment before they were bandaged up again. When it came to the stab in the shoulder, the woman peeled off the bandages slowly, trying her best to cause minimal pain for the angel. The skin was red and yellow, a bit swollen as most of the skin was covered by dried up blood along with some fresh beads of blood that began to form. The woman grabbed a wet towel softly stroking it across the surface before she pressed a bit more harder, the dried up chunks coming off.

"I already disinfected the rest of your cuts but it seems like I'm going to have to do it again for this cut. Be prepared, it's not going to be great," she warned as she bent over to pull out a bottle, popping open the small cap, holding the towel right under the cut as she poured the clear liquid.

To the angel, he had never felt so much pain in his life. It felt like he was burning, from the outside in as he unconsciously bit down into the vine, thankful that his loud yells were muffled. It felt like it lasted a lifetime, his vision distorting a bit before he was able to take normal breathes again. By the time he looked back at the woman, she was already bandaging the gauze back up.

All of a sudden something stirred from the other side of the room, both of them looking up at the other bed. The demon was pushing himself up a bit as he groaned, showing his also nude upper body as he rubbed his eyes, yawning before groaning again, this time louder. The angel began moving, numerous muffled noises escaping from his mouth as he stared at the woman, his face telling her what he was thinking. The woman just stared back in disbelief with a tint of annoyance before sighing, looking down at the edge of the bed.

the demon opened his eyes, squinting a bit as everything was a bit blurry because of the lack of glasses. He turned his head to see where he was, making sure not to move anything else so he could avoid as much pain as possible. But even though he didn't have the best eyesight, he instantly recognized what was across the room from.

Just as quickly as before, vines sprouted from somewhere in the room, twisting itself around the demon as his words were also suppressed by a thick vine, the blue in his eyes quickly changing to deep red as he struggled against both the pain and the vines. The woman sighed again as she straightened her back, ignoring the demon's yells as she looked down at the angel.

"There's a house that's about a minutes worth of walking from here. I need you to go there and ask for these items," she said as she pulled a paper out of her pocket, throwing it at the angel. "And don't even think about trying to kill him. He's immortal, just like you." All of a sudden the angel stopped, no noise coming out of his mouth as he stared at her with widened eyes.

Nobody told him they were immortal.

The vines that were wrapped around him began to pull away, the angel finally relaxing his body as he slumped a bit forward. As he panted a bit something caught his eye, looking up to see a pair of crutches being handed to him. He looked up at her confused.

"You twisted your ankle pretty badly," she said before he shoved the crutches closer to him. The angel finally reached out and took the crutches, holding onto the metallic item as he slowly swung his feet over the edge of the bed. His feet peeked out from the sheets, his right ankle swollen and all red as he winced a bit. He tried twisting it, the pain shooting up from his leg before relaxing it. The angel looked up, the woman taking out more gauze and bandages for the demon as he continued to struggle, at times stopping for a bit because of the overwhelming pain before resuming. The woman turned around, her skirt swaying as she sneered at him. "Hurry up and get out of here."

the angel silently agreed to her demand, gently pushing himself up after he shoved the crutches under his arm. He then held in a breath, hoping for a smooth glide as he pushed himself forward, quickly dropping the left crutch as he leaned onto the other, panting in hopes of regulating the pain that spread throughout his shoulder. After the pain dissolved, this time he tried moving again, using the crutch as a substitute legs as he leaned against it, wobbling out the door. He twisted to the side so his wings could fit through the doorway, a sudden warm gust of wind coming down as he looked at the outside.

In front of him was a field, the tall green grass swaying underneath the cloudless sky as it stretched on for forever on one side as the other was cut off by the thick forest. He turned his head to the right, watching the field as he saw houses, the dirt pathway he was standing on leading down to the row of cottage houses. They were small, the red of the bricks covered in plants climbing up to the top. Most of the houses had smoke steaming out from the chimney, a hint of spices mixed in with the air that caused the angel's stomach to rumble, the smell nothing like he smelt before.

"Close the door will you? I don't want the whole town to hear him. Plus, an infection is something I really don't want to deal with," the woman sternly said, her face distorted in a annoyed frown, something the angel knew without even looking. He reached behind himself, slowly closing the door before it clicked, the last thing he heard being the muffled cries of the demon.

It took a while and a lot of effort. In the beginning it was uncomfortable, his movements stiff as he tried to move quickly and efficiently. He moved onto the grass, the sandy dirt path a bit too harsh on his feet, finding the soft tufts of the over grown grass soothing. During the time he hopped to the nearest house, he stretched his wings slowly, cautious about his left wing as the right flapped a bit in joy. His arm hurt by the time he made it to the door of the house.

Opening up his left palm he looked at the slightly crumpled paper, words that the angel could not comprehend written in a fancy neat writing that was rushed at the end, an ink splots in the corner that was smeared. He held onto the door handle, pushing the door as he slowly looked inside.

A bell chinned, startling the angel a bit as he looked up at it before quickly turning his head back down to look around. The house was a mess, stuff hanging from both the ceiling and the wall, the floor covered in stuff. It seemed like entering a new world, everything creative crammed into the space of one room.

All of a sudden the sound of a gun being clicked echoed through the room, the already quiet room seeming to have gotten quieter. The angel gulped as he slowly twisted his head to the side, sweating trickling down his face as he stared at the blackness of the barrel right next to his face.

"What are you doing here?" A voice questioned, deep in irritation and despise. The angel opened his mouth a bit, trying to say something that would save him. Despite knowing the fact that he won't die, he still feared of idea of allowing a man to use this weapon he had never seen in his life.

"I said what are you doing here!" He asked again, trying to suppress the anger that was already spilling out of his mouth.

"I've been sent by that lady in the house over there to get the items on his list!" the angel quickly said, the words just babbling out of his mouth as he ignored the pain and raised his arm holding the list to the man, his eyes shut tightly as he awaited his fate.

Nothing happened. A ticking was heard to the angel, time going on by the seconds as he waited for something to happen. Then, the man suddenly took the paper from the angel's hand, unwrinkling it as he read what was written, the gun being lowered. As the man was distracted the angel cracked his eye open, watching cautiously as he opened his eyes more for a better look, reeling his arm back.

If the angel was to use one word to describe this man it would be, peculiar. The man wore a normal tan colored shirt, the top part tied a bit by string as on his hips hung a huge belt over the black pants that went down to his feet. Over everything was a red coat, hanging on his shoulders as the sleeves laid limp, armless. And lastly his hat, a black hat that spread out in all directions, the tip curving a bit from its weight, covering most of the long golden locks the man had. Everything he was wearing was new to the angel. But what the angel couldn't stop staring at was the item the man held in his hand, the cylinder shining with metal as there was a lever at the back, the man's finger laying gently on the trigger, ready to fire whenever he was ready.

"That little bitch," the man tisked, stomping around all of the items on the floor as he went over to the counter, carelessly throwing the gun onto the table. He then went to the wall, shelves filled with billions of pots and jars as he took a small bag, throwing random pre-bagged stuff. Lastly he went to the other side of the room where there were tons of plants growing on the wall, throwing in some leaves from plants before folding the bag unevenly and throwing it to the angel, who almost dropped it.

"The woman got her things now leave!" The angel looked up, the man furiously standing by the wall as he awaited the angel to do what he commanded. Without debating the angel turned around, moving as quickly as he could out of the still open door before it sharply shut behind him. He turned around, confused and a bit annoyed on what just happened.

How dare he show such low disrespect for someone like me. Even though the angel wasn't highly rank in the empire of the sky, he still believed that the people on mother should be pleased to be able to meet an angel for once in their life. His confusion turned sour as he ranted in his mind, not noticing that he was already back at the woman's house until his feet felt the small pebbles of the pathway. Looking up he noticed another house on the left, bigger with it's second floor building, smoke also came out from the chimney as the sunlight hit it on the side. The color of the golden rays and the tan wood walls of the building gave off a warm feeling and the lights filtered through the windows covered in shards of different colors, coloring the grass. He has never seen anything so….so what? The angel puzzled in his mind, wondering what he thought about the building. The word he was looking was no where to be found in his brain. A bit disappointed and once again confused, the angel wobbled himself over to the one roomed house he came out of, and right when he leaned forward to reach for the handle, the door was opened by the woman.

"Good, you're finally here," she said as she went around the door. The angel shifted over a bit to look over the woman, to look over at the demon as he saw him laying on the bed.

When he turned his face back down at the woman, he fidgeted slightly, surprised that the woman was staring at him the whole time. Her brown eyes narrowed as she watched the emerald eyed boy look back at her, his eyes widened a bit. The wind blew, the angel's overgrown bangs swaying a bit in his eyesight, the boy biting back his lip in the slightest bit as he twiddled his thumbs, looking for something to distract himself as he felt uncomfortable. Then she turned away, some strands of her tight bun finding their way out as they gently fell.

"Come with me" The angel spun his head to the side, watching the woman walk around the small house until her figure disappeared from the angel's sight. The angel wobbled over, turning the corner to see a three wooden chairs, a small wooden table in the middle that had a wooden pole through the middles, the fabric at the top folded down. The woman sat down in one of the seats, putting the bag and her white box onto the table as she gently opened both of them up

"Hurry over and sit down," she said, her back toward the angel as he slowly advanced toward her. "Sit here," she commanded, her wrinkling fingers tapping the chair right next to her, her eyes not looking up from the items laying on her lap. The angel stretched his wings a bit before he prepared to lower himself, gently in the beginning before he fell harshly in the chair, the thump reverberating throughout his body.

"Put your foot on my lap." The angel looked up, the woman now grinding a few ingredients in a mortar. The angel raised his left foot up to her lap only for her to wasp it away. "The other one you fool."

A few moments after the angel was able to raise his foot up to the woman's lap as she scooped up a good handful of the green goo that she had created, smothering it on the swollen red ankle. The angel let out a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding back, watching the woman with interest. He didn't understand her. She had been rather crude with her remarks as well as forceful yet, she was doing so much for not only him but tragically for the demon as well. He was confused.

"Don't talk," the woman suddenly said while her head was still down. The angel shut his mouth. He looked up, scrunching his eyes up a bit from the sunlight as he looked at the field, the world goldening. It was, quite beautiful. For some reason he couldn't get over how the village looked, how the whole world looked. It may have also been the fact that he didn't get to see the sunset that often, his curfew being when he was done with the fields. His room consisted of no windows, just a springy bed with a blanket and a desk in the corner that had only a small row of books that wore down from being over read. But there was one time he remembered, half of the harvesting team sick with a new disease, everyone who was safe from the disease having to work over time. The angel didn't complain but was exhausted, only to be rewarded by the beauty of the sky turning from blue to orange, pink, yellow, purple, then to the pitch black sprinkled with tiny dots of light he soon learned were stars. After that he longed for another moment of being able to see the beauty that occurred everyday.

"What do you want." The angel looked down from the sky, his sight a bit distorted from looking at one thing for too long. The woman was leaning back in her chair, looking down at her arm that had a long cut, the bloody slowly oozing out as she grabbed a towel to dab it. "Where am I?"

"And what if I told you, what would you do?" The woman said as she took a roll of gauze, wrapping it around her arm. "Then I would ask if you have aligned with anyone."

The woman stopped in mid wrapping, lowering both of her hands as she looked up at the angel. The wrinkles on her forehead became prominent, her mouth a straight line as he eyes were filled with discontent. She stayed staring at the angel, not moving a single bit. The angel leaned back, not liking the attention he was receiving suddenly as he hoped that it would stop anytime soon.

Then she looked down at her arm again, wrapping the last of the cut where some blood was beading out. She tied it, mumbling some incoherent words as she looked back up.

"You must be hungry. I hope you like corn soup." The angel looked over to see the woman standing up from the seat, brushing off the imaginary dust from her apron. But before anything else happened, a crash echoed from the small one-roomed house, accompanied by a groan of discomfort and swears. The woman sighed as she pressed a hand onto her face, not happy with the way everything was playing out, expecting him to have been unconscious for a little longer. But being immortal had its perks.

"You go wait in the room. I'll bring some food over for the two of you." She turned around to see a disgusted the angel, his body immobile. "Oh, just grow up and get in there." The angel stayed put. "Then I guess you won't be getting any food." The angel's head shot up, his mouth half open for a protest until he ducked his head back down, mumbling something along the lines of a unhappy agreement. The woman sighed again before she grabbed onto her white box and mortar, walking steadily over to her two floored house, the wind causing some more hair to loosen up from the her bun.

The angel pushed himself up, taking as much time as he could as he kept dreading for the moment he was to enter that room. He would have stayed outside and avoided going into the house, but his stomach growled otherwise. He made it to the light wooden door, his hand inches away from the door handle. He held in his breath as her turned it, slowly pushing the door as he peaked from his spot. Sprawled all over the door was the demon, his attempts to push himself up close to nothing as he stayed put, the blanket wrapped around his waist and lower half. His hole speckled black wings flapped a bit when he heard the door opening before folding back, his tail swaying side to side before it stiffened. After a second it swayed again, this time its motion more cautious. The demon pushed his head up, squinting for his gaze to become clearer before they changed to red, the corner of his mouth forming into a snarl, showing off the pointed canines. The angel just stared down, his head tilted up in a supercilious manner, his thick brows furrowing as he pushed the door open even more.

The moment the woman walked through the door, she kept her head down, placing the white box and mortar onto the counter as she walked over to the stove, the yellow soup bubbling. She took out a spoon, mixing the already complete soup as her mouth formed a line.

"What are they doing here?" A voice said at the table, the man leaning back into his chair as he looked at his nails out of boredom, the other one playing with his long golden hair. The woman kept staring down at the soup. "I said, what are they doing here!"

"Francis, calm down," the woman said, her brown eyes glancing over to him while she kept facing the pot. "Don't you dare tell me to calm down!" He yelled, harshly bringing his hand down to the table as he stood up, his breath coming out short as he glared over at the woman, his eyes icy blue. The woman looked back down at the soup.

"I didn't sense them." Francis reeled his arm back, his brows still furrowed. "The only reason I was able to spot them was from how much noises they were making." They stayed silent for a few moments, Francis trying to understand what was going on.

"You're becoming old aren't you?" The woman raised her head up to looked at Francis, her eyes serious and annoyed at the stupid joke he just made. "But that can't be...you've spotted every single being that's tried to get to the village, even me no matter how much I try to conceal myself up with magic." The woman nodded her head in agreement. "Then does that mean…" the woman nodded her head some more.

"That can't be!" Francis suddenly screeched out. "How, how can you and the forest accept them! All they want is military support for when they destroy mother for their own selfish benefits and, and-!"

"Francis." The man stopped, the hands that were placed by the side of his face being lowered slowly to his sides. "I know you hate both of their civilizations but, I trust the forest and my brother honestly a lot more than my knowledge. And what if I told you they knew nothing." Francis looked over at the woman. "Nothing?"

The woman then looked over, the brown and blue eyes meeting each others gaze. "Absolutely nothing."

Francis then sunk back into the chair, the red jacket wrapped around his shoulders almost falling off before he reached over and pulled it higher. He let out a breath, more like a sigh as he reached up and pressed the black hat onto his head before taking an item from his pocket. "Here's your months worth of medicine. Don't forget to pay," he said as the threw it into the table and got up, walking over to the doorway, the sound of his boots making contact to the wooden floor echoing through the silent room. "And if they do anything Mansi, it's all your fault." The woman spun around to look at Francis, his usually smooth tight skin seeming to have loosed up, the smallest wrinkles forming. "Is business slow?" Francis looked up at the door, staring at nothing in general as he said, "no, quite the opposite really. The stress is just overbearing."

And he left, the woman at the stove stirring the corn soup as she stared out at the outside world that was mostly black. A few stars appeared in the night sky, most of them covered by the clouds that glided across, mostly covering the moon as the long grass swayed. She stayed there in silence, until she began to sense something that was masked under by the stress, anger, and fear that Francis emitted. She sighed, cursing at herself at the same time questioning why she was taking care of the idiots as vines came out to pull out some bowls before placing it down onto the counter. She then scooped up some soup and poured it into the bowl, filling them up as much as possible as she put them on a tray and grabbed the white box. The vines opened the door for her as she walked through it, walking steadily as she tried her best to keep the soup from spilling as she kicked open the door where the angel and the demon were stuck together.

There, on the ground were the two of them, caught up in the mess of sheets that were now becoming red. Blood was splattered on the wall, some of it dripping down as the side of the angel's face that was caked with blood, half of his blond hair darkening. The demon face was swelling a bit, the skin by his eye purpling as some blood trickled out of his mouth, his black hair sticking up everywhere. The two resumed to their fight, the angel on top while the demon struggled underneath. The woman sighed before pointing at the two with her chin, vines coming around to pull them to the opposite side of the room like the beginning of the day. They both struggled until the woman walked over to the center of the room.

"Why can't you fucking idiots can't just stop and not fight for some measly five minutes!" she snarled as she raised a hand up, smacking the demon head which tossed to the side a bit, his face tinted red. The angel laughed, his mocking voice resounding the room as he saw the demon being put into place. The woman then turned around and also gave the angel a good smack in the head, shushing him for the moment as the demon also started to laugh.

"Hey! What was that for!" He asked, offended and embarrassed before he was smacked in the head again. "Because you keep fighting and keep getting yourself hurt. Even if you fucking fools are immortal and heal quicker than a normal being, it doesn't mean you can just keep wounding yourself like that!" The demon kept on laughing as he also got another smack, finally quieting down.

"Ugh, what have the two of you done to each other," she said as she sighed into her hands, her muscles feeling two times heavier than usual as she straightened her back, opening up the white box again. She then began treating them.

The two of them were bleeding from almost everywhere; the angel had a long diagonal cut down his chest, a cut on his head as well as a minor concussion, the shoulder wound having been opened up. Thankfully his wings were spared along with his ankle that still looked sore but was almost back to normal. The demon had ended up opening all 3 major stabs in his chest, stomach, and hip as well as the long cut in his hand that was dark purple, red, and yellow, having to be disinfected again. His wings were fortunately, almost fully healed.

The two felt a bit guilty. Not for the pain and wounds they caused for the other, oh they didn't feel a tiny bit bad about that. But that this woman was using both her time and energy to help the two of them. They felt bad that they kept making her worry over a problem she wasn't a part of, whether she expressed it openly or not. But there were so many unanswered questions still.

After she finished with the two of them she handed the soup over, telling them to drink up before it got cold. The vines released them and disappeared, some pain erupting in both of them as they moved. They took the bowl and slowly ate.

It was a painfully quiet ten minutes. The demon and angel would keep staring at the other, when their gaze locked they would glare before they turned their head to the side. The woman had gone around with a wet towel as she cleaned the walls, and replaced all of the blood soaked sheets with crisp new ones while she continued to mumble curses. The demon was the first one to say something.

"Where am I granny?" The woman spun around, the wrinkles even more prominent as she gave him an irritated expression. "It's not granny it's Mansi." The demon shoved another spoonful of soup slowly into his mouth, wincing as the name striked familiar to him. "So where are we?"

The angel too looked up, curious to find out about the answer. The woman pulled out a stool, sitting down onto it as she sighed, relaxing her muscles for what seemed like the first time during the whole day.

"This village really has no name. It's just a village that is deep in the forest no one dares to go into." The two stared at the woman; the spoon bobbing from the demon's mouth while the angel lowered his into the soup for some more. "And," she stopped for a moment, closing her eyes as she inhaled calmly, her fists clenched.

"We have not aligned with anyone." The angel and the demon's gaze met for a second, the determination burning in both of them as they looked back at the woman. "And who's the leader then?" The angel questioned while he looked over at the side for his bag, which he soon found and grabbed. The woman looked down at her hands, twiddling with them before she looked up. "I am."

The angel and the demon didn't know if they were lucky or unlucky. They were lucky that the first person they had an encounter with was the leader, but both of them showed a rather pathetic side to her. They had no idea if they had an advantage or a disadvantage.

Without a second wasted the angel furiously looked in his satchel for a parchment that he had been handed to at the gate, something he had been told to read when he found the leader. "I've already read it angel so don't even bother." The angel stopped and looked up at the woman who took off the elastic that was holding her hair. The the silver streaked hair came down to her shoulders, curling at the ends a bit as she itched the side of her head.

"I can't believe you fools have been tricking people with all of those fancy flowery words. No wonder your civilization is so far behind compared to others. But then I guess those words do reassure people into thinking that they are safe." She nodded a bit before she looked up at the angel. "But there is no way I would be able to agree to something filled with so many lies and deceit."

The angel stared up at her dumbstruck. Flowery? Fancy? Filled with lies and deceit? He hadn't expected to hear any of those words when this was something someone powerful in his empire wrote. All of a sudden the demon laughed, the man stopping a bit to calm the pain he had created when moving as he held onto his chest. "I guess you angels are nothing better than just words that conceal all of your horrible mistakes! But that does fit an angel in the end! Stupid and obedient, not living up their life to do what they want. You guys are all just brainless drones serving the ones higher than you for their own benefit!" The angel's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, not sure what to say back, only to sneer back in response.

"Enough." The woman said, annoyed as she looked over at the demon. "Your civilization isn't any better! Convincing people for a life that they never get at the end. Honestly, I would be ashamed to be either of you guys right now!"

"What!" The angel and the demon said in unison, both of their anger fixated on the woman. She just sat on the stool, her arms crossed.

"And that's what I'm here to talk about." The angel and the demon blinked for a second, bemused on what was going on. "I'm here to make you a deal."

The room was silent for a while, two who were still a bit insulted debating on what to do while the woman stayed put. "Fine," the angel said, the demon nodding his head slightly in agreement, not enough for the angel to see.

"This village is different. I have no idea what your superiors have told you but this village is just plain different. And for us to agree upon which side to join, you must convince every single one of us." The two were confused. Why would they need to ask everyone when it would be much easier if they got the leader to agree with the allegiance.

"Here, were not just a cult of a species, not a tribe of species, hell, were not even all the same species." She began to ramble, her hand combing through her hair. "And technically I'm not even the leader of this village, I just protect it." The demon suddenly straightened his back, words mumbling out of his mouth as he finished gulping down the soup he was drinking. "Mansi! That's, that's the forest's name!"

The woman nodded solemnly as she looked down at her calloused wrinkly fingers. "I'm a part of the forest, in a way, the essence. My brother protects it from intruders. How you guys got past him and I are beyond me."

The two stared at her. Neither had heard of a group of people living together being, different. Everything the demon had heard about of the upper world was that everyone stayed within their normal group, never straying from it. Yet, this was new.

"A year." The two snapped back to reality as they listened to her. "I'll give you two a year to convince everyone which side to join. During that time you will work among us, bleed among us, and live among us. You will become one of us." The angel and demon made eye contact with the woman, her hardened gaze causing a shiver to run down the both of them. A year was a long time to spend to convince someone. The had heard of someone staying at a village for 6 months and still failed to get an alliance. He thought that the longer you stayed somewhere, the less chance you had. But then again, this village was worth so much more.

"Fine," the demon said, sighing a bit as he rubbed his jet black hair, looking down at his lap. "I'll do it."

"M-me to!" The angel said with a bit too much force, surprising the woman. He then glanced over at the demon, his eyes narrowed. He wasn't going to let the man win so quickly, there was no way he was going to go down without a fight.

"Wonderful." The woman clasped her hands together as she looked rather pleased with how everything was going. "But first things first, no physical fighting. If I find out that you guys fought, you are instantly sent out of the forest."

The angel and the demon looked at each other for a second before they turned back to look at the woman. "Fine," they both said, the words tinged with sarcasm.

The woman then pushed herself from the stool and walked to the center of the room, smiling a bit as she looked at the confused two. "Now shake hands" The two hesitated at first, eyeing each other with disgust as they stared at the woman. It wasn't until she smacked both of their heads again, telling them to grow up as she yanked their arms to the center, letting them do the rest. The two looked at their hands touch before they looked up at each other, both of them expecting to see determination, when really they saw uneasiness for the future. They quickly shook their hands, pulling away with disgust.

To the woman they were two peas in a pod, both of them blinded by what was really justice and equivalence, hoping that a year would be long enough for them to discover how truly, everything they believed in was the wrong.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

The first two days were painful for the woman. Later on that night, after she went to bed she woke up to the sound of two forces crashing onto the floor. Quickly pushing herself out of bed, she rushed out the door in her pajamas, opening up an umbrella to shield herself from the downfall. She opened the door to find the side of the demon's head covered in the small light spears and a whole bunch of the angel's feather scattered throughout the floor, having been plucked out.

"What happened!" She yelled, the two scrambling off of each other unlike the fight they had before. Both pointed at each other. "He started it!"

The woman was done with all of this nonsense. They had only said one sentence yet she was too annoyed and tired to continue on with something so useless.

"Apologize to each other." The two stared up at her with disbelief, quickly glancing at each other.

"No way!" The angel first said, the demon later saying something similar. She smacked the two and demanded for an apology once again. They both shook their heads in refusal. A sigh escaped the woman's lips, her breath dripping with annoyance.

"Then stay out in the rain until you are able to apologize to each other," She said, pushing the door open as the other was raised to lead the way. The two gulped before they looked at the woman, hoping for another solutions. "Come on," she said, glancing over at the rain before back at the two. "Unless you two are going to apologize."

The angel pushed himself up first, holding his head up high as he walked toward the doorway. He looked at the woman once again, before turning forward and walking, right under the rain. The demon followed after, giving the woman a sneer and a glare of detest as he forced himself out into the rain.

"You two can sit against the wall until you are ready to apologize to one another!" The demon slumped into the ground, his body flinching a bit as he felt the water soaking in his clothes. The angel was standing, leaning against the wet wooden walls of the one roomed house. And with that she stomped back into the house, hoping that this would be the last time.

It didn't take long for either to get soaked, their hair patted down as the angel inspected his wing.

They stayed there in silence. To pass the time the demon began plucking the light rays that were stuck in his head, quickly dropping them to the ground before they burned his fingers as the angel stared at the forest which he could barely see because of how dark it was, trying his best to entertain himself. The angel had never felt so frustrated so much in his life. He wasn't positive what the feeling was, but it came from deep within him, the want to flip something and cry, which he thought was rather ungentleman like. He bit down on his lips, quickly loosening the bite when his lip started to throb with pain.

"Why did you even start this?" The demon asked annoyed. "Now I'm stuck in the rain for something I never did."

The angel whipped his head around to look a the demon. "Something you never did? This is all your fault to begin with," He spat out.

"What do you mean by that?" Replied the demon, emphasizing the word 'that'.

"If your you wing didn't stop poking me then none of this would have been a problem!" He vexed out. "Plus, your snoring was loud." The demon just continued to stare up at him with disbelief, the thought 'are you fucking kidding me' written in bold letters across his face. The angel looked down, his brows furrowing when he saw the demon's expression.

"What? It's not my fault that you demons are inconsiderate and can't take into consideration that there are other people in the world other than you."

"Us? Not being able to take into consideration! Are you kidding me?" The demon questioned in an angry tone. "I'm sorry that your species is so blind to understand that there are people actually better than you guys."

"Someone more worthy than us? Than God? That man is amazing and there is no one, and there never will be anyone that is better than him!" The demon stood up, his face inching toward the angel.

"Can you guys get anymore selfish? That man has done absolutely nothing for you except keeping you caged up, literally like pigeons!"

"That man gave me everything and I owe that man everything. Because of him I was able to live and because of him I have a place to stay with food. And that is why I'm going to get an alliance with the village no matter what!"

"Well you go ahead and try. But no one would want to agree to a lifestyle that you rotten people have, and that God you say that is oh so amazing, well he's nothing more than a manipulative man that controls your whole empire as pawns. You guys are nothing more than-"

Before he could finish the angel tackled him, the two rolling onto the wet grass as they fought again. But before a lot of damage could be made, the two were separated by the extremely aggravated woman as she cocooned the two with vines and hung them from a tree upside down.

"Let us go hag!" The angel yelled, still upset at the demon and wanting to fight him. The woman smacked both of their heads before stomping off back inside. The two were silent again, both of them trying to struggle free so they could fight each other. But their reason for struggling changed after a while, the tight wrap the vines had around their bodies uncomfortable especially for their wings as water fell down their face in a weird way, some getting into their nose.

"This is all your fault." The angel said, his voice monotone.

"Nuh-ah" the demon replied, shaking his head as much as he could in the restraints.

"yes it is"

"nope" Something fell to the ground, the demon groaning a bit as he mumbled a bit sarcastically, "Noooo, my dog tags."

"Just admit it"

"Why should I?"

"Cause none of this would have happened if it weren't for you"

"But I'm completely innocent"

"Innocent my bloody arse" There was a silent pause.

"Wait, what did you say? A-rrr-se?" The demon asked, genuinely curious until it hit him. "Is that supposed to mean ass?!"

"What?" The angel questioned. "What's wrong with arse?" The demon began laughing, his loud voice echoing a bit.

"That's such a frickin' strange way of saying...ass!" The angel's face heated up for a moment, his cheeks dusted with red as he clenched down his teeth slightly.

"Th-there's nothing strange about that!" He yelled, trying to get the demon to stop, only for him to continue. "Everyone talks like that up above!"

"Arse!" The demon kept saying in between laughs, saying it in a mockingly horrible British voice as the embarrassment of the angel was changing to anger.

"Belt up! I least I don't have a horrible accent like you!" That didn't stop him. The angel ended up ignoring him, looking at the upside down world, the clouds done raining as the demon's laugh suddenly came to a stop.

"You finally done now?" The angel questioned annoyed, turning over to look at the demon, only to stop when he saw the man.

"I think I'm gonna throw up…" He mumbled, quickly closing his mouth. After hanging upside down for about an hour or two all his blood had rushed to his head along with the food he had. He felt sick, ready to barf at any moment as the angel began frantically moving around, hoping to get away from the demon whose face was turning purple.

"Ew, oh please don't! Just- Granny!?" He yelled, hoping to get the woman attention even if she was inside a building. "Granny get out here! The bloody demon is going to throw up!"

It took a few more shouts, words one should never say to someone being used as he lured her out, the woman stomping out of the house furious.

"What the fuck do you guys want you little turd - holy shit!" She said after she noticed the state the demon was in. "Why didn't you call me out earlier!"

"I did but it seems like you're becoming deaf," the angel spat out, the woman glaring at him before turning her attention back at the demon.

"But, I can't let you to down until you guys agree to not fight anymore. I've already given you too many chances and I can't let this continue on!" The two looked at her.

"Are you kidding me! Is this really the most appropriate time to do this?" The angel questioned. The woman didn't budge.

"Well? What do you say?" The two stared at her for a bit more until the demon looked over to the side, releasing a groaned muffled by his closed mouth, warning the two of what was going to be coming soon.

"Fine, fine! I agree! Now untie me!" The angel said, the demon nodding his head for he didn't want to risk the chance of opening his mouth.

Suddenly, the vines unraveled itself from the demon and angel, the two crashing onto the ground with an umph. The demon picked himself up and crawled to lean against the tree as he threw up. The woman and the angel stared, disgust written all over their faces.

"I told you it wasn't a good idea to eat so much so late at night!" The woman said, the demon making a shooing motion as he continued on with his business. Earlier that night the demon had gotten up, sneaking into the woman's house for some more food, only to be caught by the woman. She still did give him food, but warned him that it wasn't a smartest idea to eat something so late. And now look what happened. The woman sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Ew, uh, this is disgusting," said the angel, stretching his sore wings and sat up, pinching his nose to stop the smell.

"Shut up," the demon muttered as he finished his duty, leaning onto the tree for a second before collapsing onto his back. It felt good to finally stretch his body as he felt the soft ticklish touch of the grass, the blood returning back into his body as a thought came into his mind. His stomach rumbled a bit, the demon flinging his arm over his belly.

"Hey granny, do you have any more food?"

"Oh my word…" the woman mumbled as she gave herself a small face palm, the angel just staring down at the demon with amazement and disbelief.

"Get up." The demon looked over at the woman as she crouched down and pulled on his arms.

"What are you going?" He questioned, pushing himself in a sitting position.

"Before we can continue on with anything, you two need to apologize to each other." The two looked up at her, their face contorted with disgust, their eyes half-lidded to make the annoyed expression even more prominent.

"Come on! Just hurry up and get it over with," She said at the two, wanting to continue on with her life than having to deal with the two children. "How hard can it fucking be!?"

The two just sat on their knees facing each other, their clothes half soaked as they kept their head down. There was no way they were going to apologize, for neither of them felt bad about what they did to the other. They just continued to refuse and pout.

"Fine," the woman said as she sighed a bit, wondering why she was even doing all of this. "Get your stuff, you guys are kicked out of this forest." The two straightened their backs, looking at the woman, begging for another solution. She just stared down at them, her eyebrows raised for they knew what she wanted them to do.

"Sorry," the demon first said, looking to his side to avoid both the woman and angel's gaze. The angel just humphed, his whole body refusing until he looked up at the woman. He then gulped, both the accumulated spit and pride. "Sorry"

The woman then crouched and gave the two a pat on the back, startling them as she smiled. "See, you can do it!" They gave her an unsatisfied look.

"Well, to follow along with your question demon, yes, yes I do have some food. So why don't you two come over and I'll make you something." The demon quickly got up, excited as the angel did as well for he hadn't eaten anything for half a day, but still a bit disgusted in what happened only five minutes ago. They both trailed behind the woman until they tried to get through the door frame together, telling each other to move, leading to another fight.

For the rest of the day they were hung upside down. At least this time the demon's stomach was empty.

The next day she had to force them out of bed, their bodies source and their brain thumping with a headache as they groaned themselves up.

"Where we going granny?" The demon questioned, rubbing his eyes. The woman in the end gave up trying to get the two to call her real name, favoring the name over the other ones she received during their two day stay. "The forest." The two continued to groan and complain like children as they got up and followed her into the forest.

The angel was wearing his usual tunic, though people after looking at it would think that the length was by far too short for anyone to wear. But it made it easier when working in the fields, not having to deal with the long length and the weight. The demon was wearing just a black shirt and his uniform pants, the top part of the uniform being fixed after it had been punctured multiple times, his dog tags clinking everytime he took a step.

The day was breezy, the sun shining through the leaves of the trees as they walked further and further into the forest. "Get away from me," the angel said as he rubbed his shoulder that seemed to have been bumped by the demon.

"You think I want to walk next to you and your stinky body odor?" The demon replied back.

"Oh belt up! At least my stomach isn't bulging out with fat." The angel pointed at the demon's stomach before it was clasped over defensively.

"For your information this isn't fat, it's muscle. You're just jealous cause you don't have it."

"Oh, and why would I be so jealous about something so stupid like that?"

"Cause you're self conscious about your hideous eyebrows."

"Why you-!" The angel began to say, already in a lung position, ready to tackle the demon down until he was given a smack on the head. The demon laughed before he too was smacked. The two looked up at the woman, nursing the pain in the heads as they gave her a look of annoyance.

"We have made it to our destination boys," she said as she lowered the large bag she was holding onto. "What the hell you want us to do hag?" The angel questioned, his eyes glossing over the bag.

"You guys will repay all the damage you have done to the forest." The two states at her confused. "You will plant all the shit you imbeciles damaged, starting with you demon." The woman pulled a small tree sapling in a pot from the bag, handing it over to the demon. "And you angel will be planting flowers," she said as she pulled out a pot of flowers.

"Why do we even have to do this?" The demon whined, inspecting the sapling.

"Because I feel like it and if I want to I can just kick you out." The two gave a half assed response. The woman bent down and pulled out two gloves, throwing it at the two who barely caught it. "Now find a place that has a lot of space and get planting."

Luckily for the angel, he had spent years working with plants so he knew exactly what to do and how to plant. The demon on the other hand knew nothing, figuring that learning how to plant was just a waste of time. Which led to him digging a hole too shallow, pulling the sapling from the pot too roughly, and burying half of it. He got up, went over to the woman telling her he was done, only to receive the millionth smack on the head that day for doing it wrong.

"Keep digging!" The woman yelled, the demon crouching as he dug sloppily, his cheeks puffed out in a pout. "Now gently put the put the sapling down, and-hey! Don't just randomly toss the dirt into the hole! Make sure it's even!"

The demon groaned as he evened out the dirt, compressing it down with the worn out gloves as they were becoming dusted with brown. He didn't see the need of any of this, that it was just a plant and he was just a demon, on the mission to gain an important allie. The plant was bound to die during it's lifetime, from a natural cause or becoming a turd after the energy was sucked out of it and he was immortal, his life going to stretch on longer than the normal being and going to be filled with many memories and adventures. He didn't see the use in starting something that was going to perish. Why become connected with something when you know one day you'll have to let it go? Why would you do that to yourself, putting your emotions into a turmoil, not being able to find your medium again? Why?

"You can't press down that hard demon." The woman suddenly crouched down, shoveling up some of the dirt that had been compressed. The demon looked over at her, ready to make a snarky comment about doing it yourself until he saw her face. "You have to press down on it softly, so that the roots can still breath and the water can get to them, right?" She said as she smiled at the plant, the wrinkles on her face softening the look. The demon continued to stare before looking down at the base of the plant, understanding what it was now. She saw herself as the mother, and the forest something that she also had to protect and cherish, along with those in the village. He finally understood why she was making them go through a year and having them get the whole village agree to the alliance. She was letting them make the major decision, whether if it's good or bad she would, in the end, support them. Unlike most tribes, she cherished and protected the ideas of the others, wanting the best for them. She didn't care about the power or money, however much it was worth. All she cared about was that the whole village was safe, and forever safe. She was the nurturing mother that would do whatever it took for their young to grow.

"Go, get the rest of the saplings okay? We'll plant them together." The woman said as she looked over at the demon. The demon nodded, pushing himself up as he stretched his legs. He trotted over to the bag, taking two more saplings as he looked over at an area of the forest, at the streams of light shining on grass covered in mildew, a thought in his mind.

What if he had a mother like that?

It was a questioned he liked to avoid, but he found the need to question it to himself today. If only, if only, if only. But none of that was what really happened. He turned around and made his way back to where the woman was.

The woman had helped the demon with the remaining saplings, this time making sure he buried them with care. It was still sloppy and amateurs work but, it was filled with effort and meaning. While she sent the boy to get some water for the sapling by a nearby river she went over to the angel to see how he was doing.

In a nice bundle were the flowers, put in spots that colorfully assorted the forest floor. They were just random flowers placed next to each of yet they contrasted with each other perfectly.

"It's looking nice." The angel looked up, squinting as the sunlight hit his eyes for a bit. He looked back down, compressing the last of the dirt gently.

"Yeah, I'm done now." The woman nodded. The angel pushed himself up and dusted the dirt off of the gloves, peeling them off after. He gave the flowers one last look before he started walking back to the bag. The woman strolled behind the angel for a while until she noticed the man had came to a stop.

She looked up to see the angel's emerald gaze looking at something to the side. She also turned around, her eyes coming upon something familiar.

"Strange right?" she began saying, the slightly surprised angel turning around to look at the woman. "No matter what I try to do nothing ever grows there except for grass." The angel turned his head back to look at a small clearing, where nothing but grass grew. "I have absolutely no control what happens in that strange little spot. I've asked the other being if they know something about it but none of them know. I guess it's a secret only the forest knows." The angel kept staring, the clearing rather mesmerizing for an unknown reason until the woman tapped his back.

"Let's head back, I'll make you guys something to eat." The angel silently nodded his head, walking back to the bag that was now empty. Leaning against a tree was the demon, a backpack thrown around his shoulder as something hung on the bridge of his nose.

"What did you find?" The woman questioned curiously.

"I found my bag that I had dropped two nights ago." The angel stiffened, the memory of the fight flashing in his mind. He shook his head, forcing himself to forget about it.

"Oh, cool," she said picking up the bag as she began walking out of the forest. "What do you guys want to eat?" She questioned cheerfully.

"Hamburger!" The demon said without a moment of hesitation, excitement spilling out of his mouth. In the angel's mind he questioned what hamburger was, something he had never heard of in his lifetime diet of salad, typical fruits, and plain bread.

"Hamburger huh…" the woman mumbled, her hand rubbing her chin before she nodded her head. "Yeah, we can do that!" The demon replied with a cheerful glee, his tail whipping back and forth.

When they made it back to the house she had the two seated at the dining room table as she began preparing for their meal. She was rather surprised, the way the two were being completely silent; the angel's arms crossed as the demon had his hands stuffed in his pockets. They were looking the opposite way from each other, avoiding each other.

"How are your wounds doing?" She asked, hoping to break the silence. She wouldn't admit it out loud but she enjoyed a noisy crowd than a quiet one, this one being too quiet for some reason.

"Fine thanks to you," The demon said, looking down at his chest even though he had a shirt on. "Now I have 3 new scars too," he said in a happy tone. The angel looked over, his eyebrows narrowed.

"Why would you demon's want scars?" He questioned, his voice laced with irritation. The woman put a frying pan on the stove that was on, rounding up the hamburgers.

"Because scars are the sign of overcoming a challenge and strength." The angel huffed, turning his head back to the side.

"Your civilization is so barbaric." The demon raised an eyebrow at the angel before he too looked over to the side.

"And why do you hate scars so much angel?" The woman questioned as she put the patties into the pan, the meat sizzling.

"The only reason one would receive a scar is if they do something going against the will of God. And because of that a scar is a sign of impurity and betrayal." The demon leaned back in his chair so only two of the chair's legs were on the ground.

"So, do you have a scar?" The demon questioned. The angel reached up to the top of the tunic that was wrapped around his shoulder, pulling it to the side for the woman and the demon to see the smooth peachy skin that no one would have been able to guess had been punctured.

"Interesting," the woman said as she flipped the hamburgers. The angel looked over at the kitchen, curious about the noise that was being made.

"Hey granny?" The woman looked over from the pan, her eyes wide in a questioning glance. "What are we doing after this?"

The woman looked back down at the pan before she started talking. "From here on we have to wait a bit, but after a decision is made you guys will have to help out with everything around in the village."

"What about what you said, about convincing others?" He asked, the angel turning around to look at the woman.

"You can do that on your own time and in your own way," she said as she pressed down on one of the hamburgers. "I've talked to most people about this so they will hear you out but, they're probably looking for something a bit more than a scripted note or a competition."

The two stared at her for a moment before turning back to look at the table. They had both completely underestimated this whole mission. They hadn't expected it to be this difficult and tough and not only that but they had a year restriction. They were going to need some strong dedication if they wanted to succeed. But fortunately, the two were already willing to do whatever it took to complete this task.

"Here you go!" The two snapped out of their thoughts, looking up to see the woman putting a plate in front of them. The demon, without a second of hesitation began eating, while the angel stared down at it. It was strange; some meat was stuck in the middle of what looked like the butt of a loaf of bread, the green of lettuce and red of a tomato peeking out from underneath it. He was a bit scared to try it at first, not to fond of new stuff until a waft of the smell entered his nose, his stomach growling. He reached down at picked it up, taking a tiny bite.

"Mmm!" The angel suddenly said, his eyes widening as he tasted the meal they called hamburger. The demon who was finishing up the last bit of the hamburger and the woman who was just drinking tea looked up at him, surprised from the angel's reaction that seemed to have caused his halo to glow ten times brighter as he shoved the hamburger toward his mouth for another bite. The two stared, watching as the skinny man ate it slowly, his eyes scrunched up in delight as he finished the last bites of it. The angel was happy, his taste buds almost having their own party as he savored the last of the burger.

"Was it good?" The woman questioned, huffing a breath of amusement as she took another sip of her tea.

"It was amazing!" he said. The mouth that usually was a frown or a mocking smile was now a grin, his cheeks seeming to have gotten rosier. The demon just laughed a bit before the woman joined him, the angel looking at the two of them confused.

"What?" He asked, leaning forward a bit.

"Nothing nothing," the woman said as she calmed herself down. "It's just-"

She then suddenly stopped talking, the two looking over at her curiously as the woman just stayed looking surprised. She blinked twice, looking straight ahead as her distant looking eyes focused back to the real world. The chair made a sound when the woman pushed herself up, the skirt falling back to her legs as she pushed the chair in.

"It seems like they had already made a decision," she said, looking at the mug she placed onto the table before the angel and the demon. "Come on, they're waiting for you outside." The two pushed their chairs, curiously trailing behind her as they went to the door. The woman pushed it, leaning on the door as she allowed the stunned two to see what was going on.

On the grass surrounding the house were tons of flowers, that seemed to have sprouted from nowhere, the color scattered like how the angel had planted the flowers. "I'm guessing they liked how you planted the flowers," the woman whispered, the angel replying with nothing for he was too stunned, no thoughts processing through his mind. The wind blew, the petals of many flowers flying to wherever the wind was willing to take them. In the very center of all of these flowers was chair, the wood brown from overuse, looking ancient.

"Come on." The two looked over at the woman who began walking toward the chair. As she walked she constantly stopped, turning her head to the side as she said something to the air or touched nothing. It was strange but the smile of her face remained bright, strong, and cheerful. They soon made it to the chair which was surrounded by tall flowers that curved from it's own weight, adding on the delicate look as there were many shapes and colors to admire at.

"So, who shall go first?" The woman questioned, her back to the two as she placed both of her hands on her hips.

"T-to do what?" The angel questioned, stuttering a bit in the beginning for he had no idea what to expect anymore.

"As I promised you will become one of us." The woman spun around, her hair that was down twirling with her as she shoved her hand into the apron pocket, pulling out something small enough for her to cover with her palm. "And to do you, you will have to get your ears pierced." She opened her palm, revealing two small emerald colored earrings, the one identical to the one she had in her top left ear. The angel flinched back a bit.

"Demon, you'll go first," she said, moving to the side so the demon could get to the chair. He walked over and sat himself down comfortably, placing his hands on the hand rests as he continued to look at the scenery. The woman grabbed onto a bottle, pouring the substance on a cloth that she rubbed on the demon's top left ear gingerly and plentifully. Then she pulled out a very thin metal pole, puncturing a hole very quickly before the placing the earring in securely, clicking the knob in the back. The demon looked around, even more mesmerized as he carefully watched everything around them, his mouth tugging into a smile as the woman tapped his shoulders, telling him something.

When he got out of the chair the woman turned around the angel, her hand out for him. "It's okay, it won't hurt. It's just something small you'll have to do." The angel didn't know what to do. Pierced ears weren't something socially accepted in the empire above, and it worried him that they may consider it a scar in some way. But, he reassured himself, it was for his empire. That this will all be over looked when he would return with the alliance. He looked up at the woman, her smile warm as the wrinkles were prominent, softening her features yet, looking strong and independent.

The angel reached out and took the woman's hand, letting her guide him to the ancient chair. He gently sat down, his chest thumping with nervousness as his hands felt a bit sweaty. He looked at the woman's house and the one roomed house, along at the rim of the forest. Something cold gently rubbed his left ear, the angel flinching a bit as with surprise, but he continued to stare ahead; at the flowers he seemed to never get sick of, the sky that stayed one color constantly until the sun would set, everything in this world he was yet to discover, find out, and embrace. For a moment he took a deep breath, the fresh air filling his lungs as he closed his eyes and clenched his fists, ready to jump off into the unknown terrain.

He heard a soft click, telling the angel that the woman was done. He scrunched his eyes a bit before opening them, widening as he saw everything surrounding him, which was a group of people, of different species scattered, their smiles bright and comforting. They were each like individual flowers, each one different in size, shape, color yet, all harmonizing together. His eyes then landed on the woman - Mansi, her smile just as brilliant.

"Welcome Arthur. Welcome to our home."

And so the adventure began; the adventure that two never expected to take as their journey leads them through twists and turns with the exceptional break, no one having been ready for what the two had in store for each other, the opposites like new born children growing up to see the world in their own eyes for the first time.

But shh, only the forest knows this for now.


	2. The unknown

"And as I have stated earlier we are ready to plan on taking action whenever is necessary and give the support you people may come to if we end up having this-" A woman raised her hand to stop the man before she crouched down to pick up her small boy into her arms before standing back up.

"I'm sorry to say but I'm actually not that interested in joining either side. The main reason why I even moved here was because we didn't want to be thrown into a mess. Plus, I don't want to put my children into a situation could my children would be harmed." She rubbed the child's cheek a bit, the child giggling as he sloppily clapped his fingers. "Thank you for coming all of this way but I'm going to have to refuse your offer."

Arthur lowered the paper in his hands, nodding his head slightly as he looked down to the side defeated. "No, thank you for listening to me and I'm sorry that I had used up some of your time." He gave a small smile.

The woman nodded, turning around as to go back to her house as the child watched Arthur back away slowly. When Arthur looked back up, the child shook his hand in an uncoordinated fashion before looking back up at his mother who closed the door. Arthur just stared, before sighing as he ruffled his unkempt hair that flew everywhere. He looked up at the sky, the sun touching the horizon as the colors began to change.

After being introduced to the village, everything settled down, all of the townspeople returning to their homes along with the flowers, that seem to have just disappeared. The next day he was woken up early with the demon, them separating ways as Arthur went to go help out in the fields as the other was sent to help with construction. The job was tougher than the one he had to deal with above; there were less people to help out with the job along with the people taking their time doing stuff rather than getting everything done as soon as possible. He found himself at the end of the day, frustrated people weren't taking the job serious along with exhaustion after doing as much as he could under the glare of the sun that seemed to get stronger and stronger everyday. When he made it back he tried with all of his effort to eat before he collapsed onto the bed, sleeping.

But along with that he was to go around convincing people into having their alliance, but because of the exhausting job he found himself having little to no time or energy to even conduct the mission. So he had only gone to six houses total, not including Francis' house. He promised himself he was never going to go over there again.

The sky was mostly dark blue and purple, the sun peaking a tiny bit at the horizon as it disappeared from the moon, Arthur lying on the grass ground and he stared up at the sky. Every house he had gone to refused him, basically all of them telling him the same thing; not interested, don't want to endanger myself, my family comes before me, I like how things are right now, etc. Arthur felt like they were all just sugar coating what they were all really thought not wanting to hurt his feelings. He didn't see the use in lying, and lying was one of the things he shouldn't ever do.

The stars shined, the dark sky spotted with the bright lights of the stars, the night cloudless. The air was warm but a breeze came down, a bit chillier than what he had gotten used to, the soft sound of the grass swaying that was quickly disturbed by the yelling of a name. Arthur's muscles groaned in protest as he pushed himself up, stretching his wings as he walked over to where Mansi was, her hands occupied as she held onto a tray.

Arthur had seated himself quickly over onto his bed, placing the tray onto a small table he had put out for Arthur and Alfred to use while they ate, which they hardly ever did together. Tonight was chicken, the fried flavor watering Arthur's mouth as he took in a bit, Mansi just drinking out of a cup she had brought over.

"How is it going?" Arthur looked up, not understanding what she was questioning about.

"The whole, convincing people to the alliance," she said, her hand spinning in a circular motion.

"Oh, just great." He said, the word just dipped in sarcasm.

"Is that sarcasm I hear?" Arthur sighed in resign, resting the meat onto the table.

"I haven't convinced anyone yet, and none of them seem very, interested…" Mansi stared at him, her grip light as he raised the cup for another sip of the warm tea.

"It'll be fine." Arthur looked up as Mansi placed the cup gently onto the small plate, creating a minimal clatter before she looked up. "I'm sure you'll be able to find a way."

Arthur took another piece of meat, sheepishly eating it down as she started up a new conversation. They ended up talking to a while long, Arthur talking more than eating as he slowly felt exhausted, his body reactions a bit more slower than normal. It wasn't until he stretched and yawned did he notice how tired he was, his muscles ready to pucker out at any moment. Suddenly the door opened, another tired figure making his way through the room, Mansi's attitude becoming sour quickly.

"Why are you coming back so late?" she demanded, watching Alfred walk over to his bed. Arthur tried to glare at him, his eyes dropping down to close rather than narrowing down onto the demon. He cursed at his inability.

"Cause I'm getting there late," Alfred mumbled, kicking off his shoes with his feet as he flopped onto the bed. Mansi just sighed a bit.

"It's because you keep getting up so late in the morning no matter how many times I try and wake you up." Alfred grumbled, his voice muffled as a hand inched out from underneath him, blindly reaching out and grabbing onto a drumstick. He moved his head up, brought the meat to his face and took a big bite. "Are you even listening to me?" Alfred just kept chewing, his eyes closed shut from exhaustion.

Suddenly Mansi got up, smacking Alfred before pulling the drumstick out of his hands, placing it back on the plate as she stood there, watching him. Alfred yelled some protest about returning his food only to be fired back with, "promise me you'll wake up in the morning!" He mumbled some incoherent words as he looked down, Mansi questioning in a demanding tone for what he was saying.

"I want the food-"

"Then promise." Alfred puffed out his cheeks, his mature face looking very childish as he mumbled some more incoherent words. Then Mansi started walking toward the door, Alfred's eyes opening up as he said, "Fine fine! I'll wake up on time just don't take away my chicken~"

He was given back his chicken, murmuring on about something as he continued to chew on. Mansi turned her head to look at Arthur, his platter half finished as he was snoring away into his dreams.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Time to wake up!" Mansi yelled before she closed the door. The room stayed silent for a bit, motionless until Arthur flung his arm over his eyes and groaned. A few more minutes passed until he was sitting up in bed, twisting his neck a bit to release the tension, looking around the room to allow his eyes to clear themselves up before pushing himself up from the bed. He walked passed the demon who was sleeping on top of all of the blankets with the same clothes he wore yesterday as he continued to snore, forgetting about the promise he had just made the night before.

When he got into Mansi's house she was sitting at the table, reading a book as she shoved a piece of toast into her mouth. Arthur sat himself down into the seat across from her, looking at the book she was reading with curiosity as he scooped up jam and spread it on toast that was laying in front of him. Mansi lowered the book, looking at Arthur before at the empty seat next to him. She scowled, the wrinkles on her forehead darkening.

"That little bastard isn't even awake - I swear I'm not going to feed him anymore," she mumbled under her breath, a few more insults thrown in. Arthur took a bite out of his toast, to taste the sweet mashed up flavor of strawberry. He wasn't sure why he never even thought about preserving fruits by crushing them. He thought it was a smart and cheap idea.

"Oh, so you know how you said you could get no one to sign your treaty? Well, how about you offer to do people offers, and maybe use that as an example." She flapped her hand a bit as she talked, the other one tightly holding onto the book.

"How will that help?" Arthur questioned, not too enthusiastic about the idea.

"I don't know... give people the idea that you guys mean good and want to help us? You'll never know unless you really try. It could be better than you expect." Her fingers rubbed her thumb, the crumbs falling onto the plate as she spoke.

"But-" He stopped in the middle, wondering. He didn't see a bad in this idea other than seeing no good. He was just going to be completing the tasks people didn't want to do on their own time, that they were too lazy to do.

"Just try it," said Mansi, shrugging her shoulders a bit. "Do something for the village."

Arthur stared at her before he dipped his head down a bit, looking at the edge of the table as he nodded his head in agreement. "Fine...I'll do it." Mansi just looked over a smiled, everything coming together a bit better than she expected. She looked back down at the book, continuing to read from the line she stopped at.

"What are you reading," Arthur suddenly asked, making sure to swallow all of his food before talking. These days he made sure he did that, after watching the demon stuff and talk with a full mouth, giving everyone a perfect site of his teeth at work. It was truly disgusting.

"The Caged Princess," she said, laying the book down onto the table. Arthur took another bite.

"What's it about?" Mansi finished the crust of her toast as she flipped the page, the touch of her finger and the end of the paper creating a soft sound before she dragged her finger to the middle of the page.

"There's this kingdom where the king dies without a heir, so other king's want to take over it, only to learn that it is protected by a barrier that can only be broken if they bring back the princess the dead king locked in a tower. So basically the whole story is about prince's fighting to get the princess as it takes the turn for the worst. It's interesting, you should try it. It looks routes I wasn't expecting." Arthur stared up at her.

"When did this event in history occur?" Mansi stopped eating for a second, scrunching her eyebrows as she looked up at him, to see if it was a joke. Arthur kept staring at her with a straight face.

"W-what do you mean?" She asked, looking to the side of his head for a bit.

"When did this happen? In time?" The conversation went silent for a bit, the woman trying to understand.

"Arthur, you do know that this is a fantasy right? Like, this really didn't happen?" Arthur cocked his head to the side the slightest amount.

"Fantasy?" He furrowed his brows at the foreign word. Then it hit her.

"Oh my dear, oh Arthur, just. Oh my," she stuttered out, not believing what was going on in front of her. "You've never read fantasy?"

"Like I said, what is that?" He questioned, not sure what to do or say anymore.

"What kind of books have you read then?" She leaned forward a bit as she watched Arthur who turned away for a second.

"Books about the council and what they have contributed in society, um." Arthur raised a hand up to his chin, only touching it slightly so he wouldn't get any crumbs onto his chin. "The battles during the fallen ages, the rebellion of dishonest-"

"So history books about your empire." Arthur looked up at her.

"Yeah."

Mansi stuttered out words of disbelief before she pushed herself out of her seat, trotting up the stairs. Arthur sat there stunned and confused, wondering if he did something wrong to cause her to leave as he looked down at his plate, the last of his toast almost done, the flakes scattered all around the plate.

Some came down onto the table, the angel jumping back a bit from both the noise and weight as he looked over at Mansi who was carefully aligning the pile of books she had brought down. There at least six books, some of them covered in colorful bindings, intricate lines of gold and silver of design shinning on the size varying books.

"These are some of my favorite stories. Especially this one, about the land no one can get to and this one where mysteries start occurring all around the world, and this one where a boy rising up from the bottom to the top, and - they're all amazing." Arthur stared at Mansi during her rambling, the woman picking up each book to look at the cover as she felt a wave of nostalgia run over her. She smiled, the places and journey these stories were able to take her through during the times of boredom or escape. She owed so much to this world of imagination.

"And I'll let you borrow these!" Mansi handed a book out to Arthur, the ends of the hardcover starting to bend as there were a few strands becoming loose. It looked old and worn out, but treasured and taken good care of. Arthur rubbed his hands together to get rid of the crumbs that may have still be stuck on his hands before taking the book from her, the smile not disappearing for a second. He brought the book down in front of him, feeling the rough texture of the cover while admiring the maroon cover, the incomprehensible scribbles of gold shining right across the top.

He touched the end of the cover, pulling it as he looked at the yellowing paper, flipping the pages until he came across what he assumed was the beginning of the story. He looked at it for a bit, not sure what to expect as he looked up at Mansi, who was smiling but her eyes questioning him.

"I-I can't read this…" Mansi just stared, blinking a bit as her smile didn't waver for a second.

She never imagined the seclusion this man had gone through could deprive him of so much pleasures. She had never pitied someone as much as right now as she watched the clueless angel try to understand what was going on.

Oh, how little he knew about this world.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Mansi's plan had actually worked, a lot more than Arthur expected. When he came back from another hot day in the fields Mansi had came up to him with a list of things people wanted him to do. The first night was a miserable day for Arthur.

"Fix the hole in the wall, paint the rest of the room, clean the live stock, what is this!" He yelled at Mansi, hitting the paper a bit emphasize how ridiculous this was.

"Oh come on, it won't be horrible," she said in her defense, laughing dryly to try and lighten up the mood.

"Are you kidding me? I don't even know how to do any of this stuff!" Arthur said as he waved the paper around in anger and frustration.

"It won't be bad, it'll be fine." Mansi patted Arthur's shoulders to calm him down. Arthur just glared back at her. "They said they got all of the supplies so you won't have to spend a penny. Plus, you're not going to have to do all of the chores. I talked to Alfred about it and he was cool with the idea so he'll do half of it and you'll do the other half." Arthur quickly looked down at the paper and back at the woman, his eyes widen with what she just told him.

"The demon's doing this too?" Mansi nodded his head. He stood there quietly for a while, looking at nothing before he spun around, making his way to the door. The demon being mentioned was enough to anger Arthur, but the fact that he was also going to partake in this plan annoyed him even more. He was going to prove to not only Mansi and the rest of the town that he was worthy but also the demon. He wasn't going to back down this quickly in some measly chores.

"I'll be doing all of these so he doesn't have to worry about it." Mansi just stared at the back of the angel, his white wings bending so he could squeeze through the door and leave. She then sighed, wondering if he was always going to be this stubborn.

An hour and a half is how long it took for Arthur to complete two of the tasks. Filling in a hole in the wall hadn't been as bad as he had expected, if only he didn't have to deal with listening to a mother yelling at her two boys to stop fighting along with puncturing another hole during his stay. One of the kids thought it would be a smart idea to try and pry off Arthur's halo, only to receive a smack from his mother and sent to timeout, leading to another awkward period of silence. Once he was done he quickly left, mumbling curses under his mouth in hopes of never having to return to that house as he went to the next.

Painting a room was by far better and easier to deal with, the atmosphere being a lot more calmer being for the lack of children the family owners had. The only problem was that the room was fairly small, his wings constantly smudging the painted parts of the walls, his white wings being light blue. The more he moved the more smudges he created along with the frustrated groans as he quickly finished up with this 'stupid task'.

The last task of the night was a bit better and worse in ways. As he washed the horses with everything he had he learned to never hit them in the back, after he had woken up from a throbbing forehead that still stung a bit with pain. These majestic beasts were beautiful, but they were a real pain in the ass.

"Getting absolutely nothing for all of this- this-!" He stuttered at the end, not sure what he was going to say as he scrubbed the side of the last horse vigorously, his patience thin after cleaning 5 other horses, his muscles ready to pucker out at any moment. The horse neighed in response, almost angrily in hopes of sending him the message that he was washing him a bit too hard.

"belt up and stop whining! At least you're not the one sore all over and has to deal with a bloody demon!" He swore, his thoughts spilling out of his mouth in an uncontrollable speed. The horse neighed again, something in Arthur's mind taking it as a threat. He picked up the hose.

"Oh yeah? You're going to complain to me? We'll - there!" He turned on the hose, spraying the side of the horse with water as he laughed a bit, until noticing that the water that was hitting the horse came right back at him. He rushed and turned it off, his tunic soaking onto his skin as he flapped his wings to get the water off.

"Are you kidding me?" He questioned himself, looking down at his half soaked body. Now he wanted to hit something, to maybe break it. The want to punch an item filled inside of him, looking up, the first thing he sees being the horse, its face almost humiliating to Arthur as it turned to the side, huffing some air before bending his neck down to chew on some hay.

"Fine, I'm done with all of this shit. I'm leaving. I hope you have fun being soaked!" He yelled grabbing a towel to wipe his face. After he was done using that he threw it at the horse's side. He was tired and exhausted and didn't want to do anything anymore. He hadn't received one single signature and he was going no where. All his efforts seems to become more and more futile the more he tried and care. He just wanted to head back home up in the sky and do what he always did. At this point, he didn't even care if the demon won. He just felt frustrated and mocked everywhere he went, and felt like hiding in a corner and crying. He just didn't know what to do anymore and he hated this feeling of indecisiveness.

"Oh! Are you done?" Arthur looked up to see a man at the doorway of the barn, his head peeking through.

"Um, yeah," He said as he quickly looked over at the horse. It looked clean enough. "Yeah, I'm done." He ended up talking sincere, in hopes that the owner would let him out early, the anger from earlier diminishing a bit.

"I got a bath ready so come over and take a bath. It seems like taking care of Marcus was a bit more than you expected." He laughed a bit as Arthur looked down at his body once again. He looked like a mess. Not only was he soaked he was covered in random light blue paint along with the dirt from the ground smudged onto his body with a few hays sticks, not counting the bruise he probably now had on his forehead. He raised a hand up and touched the throbbing spot, quickly reiling his hand back as he winced. Yup, he definitely had a bruise.

"Come on!" The man called out, bringing Arthur back into reality as he looked over to see that the man was now gone from the doorway, walking back to his house. Arthur chanced after him, not wanting to back down on his offer and curious to see what a bath was.

He was soon rewarded with the answer, a bath being a large a large concave object that held a large amount of water. Arthur stared at it, not sure what to do.

"Get in there while it's still hot okay?" The man said smiling as he held onto the door handle to close it. Arthur quickly turned around, catching the man's arm before he was out of the door. The man stared at Arthur a bit startled.

"Um, what do you want me to do with this much water?" Arthur asked, sincerely confused as he bit down onto his lip softly.

"Take a bath. You know, like, wash yourself down. Clean yourself." The man stood a bit, hoping that Arthur now understood what he was expected to do.

"Like, a shower?" The man nodded his head silently. Arthur then let go of his arm, rubbing his hands together a bit in embarrassment, from his lack of knowledge. The man quickly left Arthur alone, the room smelling sweet from the tub, the outside dark for the sun had already set. When it did, Arthur didn't remember.

Arthur wasn't sure what he expected the bath to feel like. But either way it felt like heaven; the warmth enveloping around him, keeping him warm as it smelt of roses and peaches. He hadn't felt so relaxed in so long. Dipping half of his face into the water, he watched the small ripples of the water being created from his subtle breathing, it poorly reflecting it's surrounding. It was calm and peaceful, the only noise being that of the water.

It took a bit of time to clean himself, using the brittle brush a bit too harshly on his feathers, to get the caked on paint off of his wings. Once the pinkish water was tinted with brown and a bit of light blue, Arthur got out of the tub and dried himself off with a towel and lightly flapped his wings, a bit sadden that he didn't have a clean tunic to wear.

Arthur sighed as he combed his hand through his damp hair, a few droplets tailing down his skin, using the other to open the door. He looked around, down a hallway that was leading into another room, the brown wood walls illuminated in a golden color.

"You're finally out!" The man's head popped out from the side before disappearing again. "I just finished cooking so come over here." Arthur spun his head to look at both of his sides before cautiously walking over to the end of the hallway, squinting a bit as the light shined into his eyes, blinding him for a moment.

When his eyes fixated on what was in front of him he stopped and stared. The man was by the side of the table, cutting up a slab of meat. There were three plates, two on one and one on the other side of the table as it was aligned with a fork, knife, and cup along with a salad bowl placed in the middle of the table.

"You're fine eating lamb right? I think it came out pretty nicely today." The man gloated before smiling as he finished cutting the slab, taking the plate that was on the side by itself. "Just sit right there," the man said as he placed the plate onto the empty spot. Arthur sat himself down, shifting a bit until he found a comfortable spot.

The man continued to cut a slab for himself before seating in the seat across from Arthur, eating right when his hands got ahold of the knife and fork, munching happily. Arthur looked down, the meat a bit red and pink with a burnt crisp color around the edges. He took the fork, glancing up and down at the man before he started using the knife sloppily. The knife scraped onto the plate a bit, Arthur quickly retreating his hand as he looked up at the man, terrified of what he may have just done before noticing that the man didn't take any heed. Arthur tried again, taking off a sloppy bit of meat before putting it into his mouth, savoring the flavor of the soft chewy delight. He glanced up before looking over at the white plate that was next to the man, empty and waiting for it's time to become useful.

"What is, this?" Arthur questioned, cutting the meat slowly, watching the juice spill out from the punctured spot.

"Like I said, lamb," He said as he chewed on some food, taking a quick sip of water.

"No, I mean like, why are you doing this for me?" Arthur asked, the last part coming out as a mumble. The man stared at him before laughing, Arthur's cheeks dusting with red.

"It's for thanks! I know washing the horses is not the easiest thing, hell, that's why I even called you over, 'cause I hate doing it. And the person that usually does it is-" the man paused for a moment for what seemed to last longer than it should have before he resumed again with a smile. "-has been working a lot lately so they haven't been able to find the time to wash the horses." He nodded to what seemed like himself before taking another bite, chewing carelessly as he held onto the end of his fork, waving it around. "Plus they stink! Could never imagine any joy coming from cleaning horses. Especially Maximus! My word that horse is stubborn! Just because the person cleaning you is different doesn't mean you can be rude and stubborn. I have to ask though, did you get kicked in the head by him?"

Arthur looked, a bit surprised that the man noticed, but the more he thought about it the more obvious it would be for someone to notice it. His skin was a bit colored by the sun, in a darker porcelain shade of his normal tone and a bit red from a sunburn. He thought that the blue and purple must stick out on him like a sore thumb. Arthur unconsciously raised his hand up to cover his forehead as he tried to look up at it, quickly giving up for it was impossible. "Actually, it was one of the horses I cleaned in the beginning. I think it was white."

"Sylphy did that?" The man said before he burst out laughing, Arthur nodding slowly out of a bit of shock as he took another bite of the lamb. "You must really be horrible with horses if you were able to get Sylphy upset!"

Arthur looked down at his food, biting down from saying anything in his defense as he felt his cheeks warm up from the humiliation of messing something up. He hadn't felt this feeling of being useless, the thought poisoning his brain with thoughts lowering his confidence.

"Oh sorry! That's right, it's your first time doing something like this. Sorry sorry! Of course you will have a tough time with something you have never done. Don't worry, everyone starts as an amateur." The man rubbed the back of his head, rustling his brown curly hair. Arthur looked up at him, feeling a bit better.

"Yeah, I have only worked in the fields. And truthfully, this is the closest I have ever been to a mammal."

"That seems like a boring job," the man suddenly said, surprising Arthur as he furrowed his brows a bit. "Isn't there anything else you've done, or want to do?"

"Anything...else?" Arthur questioned. The man took another bite of the lamb.

"Yeah, like is there anything you want to do, or experience? To me it doesn't seem like farming is a lifelong job for you, but correct me if I'm wrong though! It just seems, tedious." The man said before eating some more meat. Tedious….Arthur thought as the word echoed through his mind in what seemed like forever. Was it tedious? Was it a boring job? Did he enjoy it? Was there anything else he wanted to do? Was there anything new he could do? He couldn't do anything new unless he was given the job so why even think of something so useless? Plus what if he failed like today, not being able to complete his job correctly? Why should he care if he was never appointed the position? Why should he wonder?

But...did he enjoy it?

"I don't know," Arthur said, answering both the his and the man's question. The man sensed the confusion and tension coming from Arthur, withholding himself from talking any further about the topic. They finished eating the rest of the meal in silence.

Arthur began to wonder if Mansi was going to be mad at him for coming back so late. But then again, this whole 'thing' had been her idea that Arthur had to complete, so he didn't feel too sad about it. When Arthur went over to the door, he silently turned around to see the man, running around as he was bringing over the dirty dishes to where Arthur assumed was the kitchen. He didn't touch the clean plate and silverware that was still on the corner of the table. Arthur turned back around to face forward and pushed open the door.

"Wait!" A disembodied voice called behind Arthur who turned around, about to close the door. The man rushed forward to Arthur, forcefully grabbing onto both of Arthur's hands. He then gave Arthur a soft smile, genuine from the top to bottom. "Thank you!"

Arthur stared, not sure what to do at all. He blinked, confused on what just happened, the man giving Arthur another bright smile and waved before closing the door. Arthur finally broke his stare, spinning to the side to look at the dark world, the few lights in front of the houses. He then began walking up the rocky sand path back to Mansi's, questioning the warm soft feeling that seemed to have erupted in his chest, something that felt foreign to him.

OOOOOOO

The rest of the week was a busy and tiresome week for Arthur. He was forced to get up early, work all day, come back while the sun was still high and strong before going out again to fulfill the favors. Some of the favors Arthur had to do were simple while others were difficult, Arthur leaving with an annoyed mind filled with pent up frustration and anger.

But in the end it had all been worth it when he was able to get his first signature. That day he ended up running back to Mansi, exclaiming about the good news as he jumped up and down, the smile of joy on his face, not faltering for a moment. Mansi ruffled his hair, her words of praise soothing his excitement as she smiled up at him. He grinned back. He was so happy that his hard work was paying off, that none of this was useless. There was a spring in his heel, causing him to hop around with happiness and pride. He felt as if his heart would just flutter out of his chest, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop smiling, his muscles doing the work for him automatically. But it still was strange, and he couldn't quite put his finger on the feeling that had warmed his heart that one night. Somehow, that feeling still lacked.

The week rolled into a weekend, which Arthur learned was a day where everyone was given two days to just sit down and do nothing. Arthur felt like it was a waste of time, but that seemed to change once Mansi suggested on teaching him to learn to read during then, finding the time precious and fun as he learned letter to letter. He was beginning to look forward to the weekend more than ever now.

"Good. Continue on like this and we'll be done really soon," Mansi said as she bent over to grab another piece of laundry, flapping it out to get rid of the wrinkles. Turning around she handed it over to Arthur who quickly took it and neatly laid out on top of the drying pole, clipping the sides so that the wind wouldn't take it away, if there even were any. The sun beamed down today, scorching in a manner that it felt like you were standing next to a heating lamp while the shade luckily provided a nice chance to cool down. Nobody wanted to work today, and it seemed especially true for Alfred, who was still asleep in the cabin, refusing to even acknowledge Mansi when she tried to force him up. She didn't put up much effort though, knowing that it wouldn't be any use. Plus, she enjoyed the time where she didn't have to worry about any more fights erupting.

By the time they did finish with hanging the laundry, Arthur felt tired and lacked any motivation to continue doing anything for the rest of the day. When he questioned Mansi about this feeling she laughed, Arthur a bit surprised as she explained that this is what weather does to people, continuing on with the fact that this it was going to get even hotter until summer came to an end. Arthur stared at her, wondering how anyone could and would want to live in such a climate. Mansi just laughed some more at the expression Arthur wore, guessing what he was thinking as she walked back into her house, Arthur slumping into the outdoor chair, which creaking the slightest bit.

Watching as the old woman laugh ticked off Arthur a bit as he leaned his chin on the outdoor table they were sitting at, the cloth that was wrapped around the pole flayed out, to what Mansi called an umbrella, giving Arthur a cool spot to peacefully look out, admiring the landscape. It was still around the beginning of noon, the sun still as high as ever as it was cloudless, the blue bright. From the corner of Arthur's eyes a flock of birds came by, flapping as they glided through the sky, the strange blob of almost black standing out like a sore thumb against the blue. Placing his cheek onto the flat of the table Arthur looked out to the side, soaking in the tiniest details of his surroundings; the different colors of the green grass that was tinged with yellow, the almost quiet sound of the a cricket creating music as a bird suddenly chirped, a rare breeze coming through as everything swayed. It was no different to what Arthur had seen before, basically what he was witnessing everyday. But it was still new for Arthur every time he stopped and stared, a beauty he never knew he was missing,the quiet yet eventful landscape that never failed to amaze him. He was falling more and more in love with it.

OOOOOOO

Something thumped against his forehead, Arthur scrunching his closed eyes before opening one up, not sure what to expect as he awoke from his slumber. In front of him was youthful face, the boy's light brown eyes examining the angel closely, his eyebrows furrowed as if questioning if Arthur was a source that could be trusted. The boy then craned his neck to look up at Mansi as Arthur shot up from the seat, startled from the sudden events. In the slowly darkening sky, the sun was traveling down, the air cooler than it was previously as a few crows cawed, their call echoing through the serene.

"Wh-what's going on?" Arthur quickly questioned, rubbing his chin in case he had any dried up drool stuck onto his skin. He glanced up at Mansi, who just smiled as she lightly shoved the boy toward Arthur before walking away from the two. The boy looked back at Arthur, his eyes almost creating holes into Arthur with his intense gaze as he straightened his back, uneasiness stirring within Arthur as he waited for what was going to happen next.

"I want to ask you a favor." Arthur let out a breath of air he didn't noticed he was holding back, relaxing his muscles.

"Um, sure. What is it?" Arthur questioned, stretching his arms a bit as he waited.

"I want you to help my brother," the boy said, his voice not faltering for a moment. Arthur blinked at the boy a bit, before he nodded his head.

"Oh, Okay, that shouldn't be that bad." Arthur whispered as he got up, the boy's gaze breaking for a second as he stared down at the short hem of the tunic before his eyes widened.

"You do wear a skirt!" He suddenly exclaimed, quickly looking up at Arthur's confused face before back down at the tunic. Arthur too looked down, wondering if there was something wrong with it as he examined the side.

The boy walked up to Arthur, grabbing onto the end of the tunic, flapping it a bit as his mouth widened into a smile. Arthur's body became still from the sudden action, not sure how to react as he just waited for the boy to get bored of it. When he was done he looked back up at Arthur, the big grin still there as he smiled at him, showing all of his white slightly crooked teeth before he quickly snapped out of the expression, replacing it with a stern one as he stared down at the ground with brooding eyes. Arthur just stared back down, before he turned to look at the dirt path.

"Let's get this over with before it gets dark." The boy nodded in agreement running a bit to lead Arthur before the two heard a sudden bang, along with some yelling as Alfred came rushing out of the one roomed building. Mansi then came out after him yelling at him about something before he stuffed his hands into his pockets, his face revealing a pout as he stomped over to where Arthur was. Arthur scrunched up his nose, the wrinkles showing prominently as his mouth formed a small snarl while the demon got closer to them.

"Who are you?" The boy asked, stern expression deepening to something that seemed too serious for such a young boy to have. Alfred looked up, taking one of his hands out of his pocket as he itched his ear, his face revealing a look of uncare.

"Granny sent me over to come along with you guys on your petty mission." The boy's eyes narrowed some more before turning around to continue leading the way, Arthur and Alfred trailing behind him.

"You know you don't _have_ to join us. I can take care of this all on my own." Arthur said, keeping his gaze forward.

"Like hell you can take care of this on your own." He said back, Arthur clenching down on his hand to keep himself calm. Maybe today he could finish the fight he and the demon kept picking at for Mansi wasn't here. Maybe today, but either way he was going to beat the little shit, even if it wasn't in the form of violence.

Alfred then spat out some excess spit that had been left in his mouth, the liquid lightly falling onto the grass. Arthur wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"That's disgusting." He stated, giving one last look at the grass that got hit before turning back to face forward. "Wouldn't expect anything less from such barbaric people."

"And what do you suppose I should do with excess spit huh?" Alfred said out of whim, his patients running shorter than he anticipated.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe swallow it down like everyone else?!" Arthur said as he emphasized the last few words, his head turned to look Alfred right in the face. Alfred reeled back a bit, looking to the side as he searched for an answer. Arthur snickered as he moved back into his walking position, knowing that he won. "That's what I thought."

The suddenly, something cold hit Arthur's foot when it made contact to the ground and splashed into a million bits. Arthur raised his foot up, surprised as he heard a mumble. "close"

"Are you spitting at me?!" Arthur shouted at him as he stopped walking and rubbed his foot frantically to get off any remaining spit.

"Oh no." Alfred said as he turned around to look at Arthur, his smile sadistic as he placed a hand onto his cheek to mock sympathy. "Why would I ever do that? Oh, that's right, it's cause I'm sooooooo barbaric. Well please excuse this barbaric me as I continue on with my barbaric duties." And with that he spat some more at Arthur's feet, most of them missing as Arthur jumped around to avoid them.

"Are you trying to pick another fight?!" Arthur shouted, aggravated as he continued to jump around.

"Why would you ever think that?" Alfred laughed a bit more, his laugh like the sounds of nails on a chalkboard to Arthur. He continued spitting with everything he had, before desperately trying to create more spit. Arthur saw this as a perfect chance, flapping his wings a bit when he jumped so he could swing a hit at the demon's head more easily. Alfred raised his arm up in effort to block the hit, his action a bit too slow for he was only able to block the attack partially, toppling a bit to the side when he lost his balance. Alfred revealed his teeth as Arthur landed lightly on his toes as he inspected the leg he kicked the demon with, the skin a bit red when it made contact with the hard horn.

"Hey," a voice suddenly said, the two turning to look at the boy they seemed to have forgotten about during this feud. "You're starting to create a scene."

Surrounding them were rows of houses that were more cramped together as there were people outside, staring, whispering. Arthur shot up, his face dusted with red as he pat down the end of the tunic for any dust that may have gotten onto his clothing. He couldn't let people see him like this, fighting with such a creature. It would definitely ruin the image of peaceful and sophisticated. Alfred just shrugged his shoulders, stuffing his hands back into his pocket and walking down the road in a nonchalant manner. The boy also began walking down the path that was slowly turning from dirt to concrete before Arthur to sped up his pace, looking at his feet the whole time to hide away his shame.

After about a minute or two of walking they soon arrived to the town center. The center consisted mostly of large buildings and some restaurants, along with the stands where products were being sold while the ground, instead of boring concrete, was decorated with mosaics. People were everywhere, leaving, entering, buying, playing. Arthur stared in amazement as he looked at everything, so new, so different. By the time Arthur snapped out of his gaze he barely caught sight of Alfred and the boy walk through a crowd of people, running to catch back up with them, folding his wings as much as possible so he could squeeze through the people.

Arthur didn't like the immense amount of people through, constantly hitting into him as he paused to apologize, only for the others have continued on without giving the angel a single glance. People seemed to be coming out of everywhere, making it hard for him to be able to successfully dodge everyone while his sight of Alfred and the boy became more and more distant. It didn't take long for him to lose them, Arthur's heard twirling side to side in hopes of finding them quicker. He began taking a few steps in one direction, doubting himself as he turned to another only to doubt himself again until something grabbed ahold of his arm, harshly yanking him to a small opening between two buildings.

"You gotta keep up with us angel." Arthur looked up to see Alfred staring at something ahead as he leaned against the wall as something to hide against. But before Arthur would protest the young boy raised a finger up to his mouth, signaling Arthur to stay quiet as he rushed over next to Alfred, also looking out. Alfred then turned around to look at Arthur before his hand that still had a grip on Arthur, releasing it as he rubbed both sides of his hand on his pants. Arthur felt offended before he too frantically rubbed his hand, both from disgust and irritation.

"That's my brother," the boy said as Arthur peaked over his head to see what they were looking at. On the other side of the road was a teen boy, his body lean as he continued to slowly walk up to a stand, bending down a bit to look at the fruits while his hands were stuffed into his pockets. He looked like the boy they were with, his face a bit less pudgier with narrower eyes, his hair a darker tone. Another man walked up to the stand, distracting the stand owner by questioning him, the boy quickly stood up straight and spun to the side, starting to walk away. But before he left the side of the stand he took a hand out of his pocket, casually picking up an orange as he shoved it into his pockets, walking away as the stand owner noticed nothing.

"He stole that…" Arthur murmured under his breath, his disbelief thick as he stared at the back of the boy that continued to walk. The younger one that was with the two just kept a straight face, not very surprised at what he saw compared to the other two. The younger boy suddenly pushed himself from the hiding spot, disappearing into the crowd before Alfred to followed after him. Arthur just stared and mumbled some more words before he chased after the two.

They continued their game of hide-and-seek, disappearing as much as they could as they watched the teenage like hawks. The brother continued on stealing, having taken a few more fruits and some small items. He wasn't caught a single time. The sun was almost about to disappear from the sky, the building shadows tall as the streets were becoming more and more empty the more they continued to chase after the boy. After some difficult twists and turn in the alley way, the teenager was completely alone other than Arthur, Alfred, and the young brother watching him from the side silently. The younger boy knew what was going to happen, having had followed his brother multiple times in the past. Arthur and Alfred were curious, Arthur mostly enraged about the bad the boy was doing while Alfred was more intrigued.

Suddenly from the other side of where the teenager was standing appeared a couple of other boys, their stance and walk confident as the other seemed ready to whimper under the pressure. But he had grown used to forcing himself to not physically show that weakness. And so the boys began talking, their voices to quiet and hushed to it to reach the ears of the three that were hiding. The young boy suddenly turned around surprising the two a bit as he looked at both of them, his eyes narrowed to express his seriousness.

"I want you to help my brother now."

Arthur just stared down, confused in a way. "Wait, you want us to save your brother from those boys?" The young boy nodded.

Arthur looked back up to see the brother pulling out all of the items from his pocket, handing them over to the boys as they greedily took everything. They then turned around, about to leave the boy until the brother quickly placed a hand on one of their shoulders, the boys spinning around to reveal a questioning glare. He then proceeded to say something before one of them grabbed the collar of the brother's shirt, snickering as he began talking.

Alfred was ready to go until he heard a "no." He stopped and turned around to stare at Arthur with shock, forgetting about the situation the brother was in as the younger boy's face seemed to just fall apart and crumble.

"W-why?" The boy stuttered out, his eyes glued onto Arthur as Arthur stared right back, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Why? Because he's a criminal! If he gets into a lot of trouble for stealing than it's his fault. If he hands out with the wrong people than it's his fault. All of this is his fault. If he thinks he needs saving than he'll do it on his own. I will not be going around helping those that have committed bad deed on their own."

"But what about right now?" The boy quickly glanced to his brother who was being shoved backwards, the other boy letting go of his grasp of the shirt.

"Right now? This is what he gets for doing all of that! He shouldn't be doing that to begin with! And before you start saying it's the others fault, he shouldn't be hanging out with them! It's his punishment for stealing all of those stuff from people. This is the punishment he gets!"

The boy bit down on his lip, holding himself as much as he could back from letting his tears smear down his face, his eyes looking glassy as they began to water up. Arthur looked down a bit surprised but kept a stern face, spinning around to walk back. "Don't come to me next time to bail out brother from punishment."

The boy just watched the back of the angel as he turned the corner and disappeared, his vision distorting a bit as he raised his arm up to his face to hide away the falling tears. Alfred just stared down at disbelief at the boy, quickly looking back to see if the brother and the boys were still there, to his fortune, not.

"But, it's… it's not even his fault…" the boy voice hitched before he clenched down his jaw to contain any other noises from escaping. "It's not…"

OOOOOOOOO

Arthur was a bit on fire during the time he was walking, or to be more precise, stomping back to Mansi's, trying to diminish his anger by breathing out short breaths of air. Why would anyone help someone like that out? He thought. Some nerve the boy had to ask him, a follower of God to be more exact, to rescue someone who was basically dyed black with sin? He was better than to be asked to do a task so lowly like that! That was wrong, wrong of the boy to do. If he was good he could just stopped and left; it wasn't like it was a ridiculous task. Arthur continued to stammer on in his mind, having a full blown out venting session with himself. He was definitely going to tell Mansi about this, to get her to do something to stop the boy. There was no way, no way, he would ever help someone from something they deserved. It was just the punishment the brother had to face for knowingly doing something that is obviously wrong.

"Angel!" A voice called, snapping Arthur back into reality as he turned around to see Alfred landing on his feet, the wings flapping a bit before they folded up. "What was that for?"

Arthur stared blankly at his face for a moment before he furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Alfred asked, his voice laced with bit of confusion toward Arthur not understanding. "I mean everything you said back there. You don't know what kind of problems that kids going through."

"That doesn't matter! What he did is bad and that's that, there is nothing else to it!" Arthur stammered back, quick to defend himself.

"Don't you think there's something else to it? That there is another side to this story?"

"No, because what he did was a bad deed. He deserves what he get's after everything he's been doing to others." Alfred just scrunched up his face in confusion and disgust.

"What? Would you get off of you high horse for one fucking moment and try to see? He's just a teenager."

Arthur sneered back at him in response before saying, "So? That changes absolutely nothing."

"Well, obviously there is, because if there wasn't do you think that poor kids little fucking brother would have come for you for help?"

"Still changes nothing. And I will definitely never help that boy."

"So you're saying that for whatever reason, there is no way you would want to help someone out? Why don't you tried to see it from his point? There are other possibilities you know, for the reason behind all of his doing!" Alfred's voice began to increase in volume, his annoyance toward the other starting to become uncontrollable as he dug his nails into his hands in hopes of holding him back, before he would be thrown into a frenzy.

"No, of course not, for God stated it. It's because you creatures have no upper intelligent control which makes everything you guys do so barbaric and crazy, with your unstable government and society. This is partially the reason why he sent us down to the surface, to steer you imbeciles into the right path after years of ignorant misguidance." Arthur spat out before Alfred grabbed onto the top part of his tunic, pulling him closer to his face. Arthur eyes widened as he stared into the other's eyes, fear he tried his best in concealing as it rippled through his eyes for a moment before raising his head up a bit, to stabilize his power stance. Alfred just stared back, ideas muddled up in his mind as he regulated his breath, the demon's warm breath gingerly touching Arthur, causing a shiver to run down his spine. Arthur bent his knees, in a ready to attack position to what this may lead the two into.

But nothing happened, to his surprise. He was just pushed back, released from Alfred's grasp as he stumbled before securely balancing himself. Arthur stared up at him watching Alfred turn around, his shoulders slumped forward as he walked, his hands finding its way back into his pockets once again.

"Why don't you try and see for once on your own you god damn angel." Arthur just continued to stare, trying to believe what had happened before furrowing his eyebrows together with discomfort. By the time had started walking, the demon was out of sight. Arthur returned back to the room, ignoring the call he was getting from Mansi for dinner, sliding into the covers as he buried himself.

It was all of the boys fault, there was no other explanation. He deserved what he got, and he deserved more, to be honest. He still was going to have to do a lot for repaying the sins he had committed. This is why, Arthur thought, this is why a group is better with a strong leader to establish rules and restrictions, to create the black and white zone. There was no in between, no grey zone. Only lies and broken boundaries that cause problems for other people. If the boy knew it was wrong and didn't want to do it, he could flat out refuse to do any of the actions. It's his own fault for being dragged into a situation and agreeing into doing such wrong actions. It was… right?

But it had to be! Screamed Arthur's mind. The rules specifically states that stealing is prohibited. Once it is done it's done, you have committed a sin and you must repent for everything you have done. It was justice for one to receive punishment for such actions. That's what was written in the law book, that's what it stated.

Arthur heard the door opening for a moment, stiffening as he was thankful that he had thrown the covers over his head and was facing the wall. The soft sound of bare feet touching the wood floor made it way toward the opposite of where Arthur was, motionless for a moment before the room was filled with the sound of a blanket wrinkling up as a heavy object laid upon the mattress.

Arthur huddles up into a curl some more with the blanket, looking at a spot on the mattress which was shined upon by the moonlight that had poured in through the window, lightly placing his hand onto the light, hoping for something to changed. Nothing did, other than him staring off into the mystical looking light, the feeling of something mixing together like a thick heavy goop deep in his stomach, feeling sympathetic for the boy. Arthur questioned himself whether if he was okay before curling up even more.

OOOOOOOOO

Arthur had a miserable week, constantly getting frustrated with his feeling as he lacked the comprehension. He just didn't get it, why he kept doing that. Whenever he would walk up to Mansi, ready to spill out about the brother and his acts he would stop, the thick goup back in it's spot in his stomach as he opened his mouth to try and form words. Nothing ended up coming out, his vocal cords failing him as Mansi would ask if he was okay, whether if he needed anything to drink. Arthur just shook his head, the words, "no, I'm fine" forming perfectly as he walked away from her. He just didn't understand, and slowly began to detest himself because of this.

Throughout the week he kept getting frustrated at his surroundings, as every confused thought ended up turning into rage. Alfred didn't approach him after that, seeming to have been avoiding him with everything he had. It was technically the same as always other than the glares wars the two would at times start, but Arthur couldn't help but feel that this was happening because of something he individually did, rather than because they were natural enemies.

It wasn't until the weekends came around was he finally released from this unknown curse. Arthur was lying in bed, feel bored out of his mind wishing to do something. But when he tried to do something the feeling would just come back, getting frustrated once again. He resorted to feeling unmotivated, laying there like he would die the moment he left the covers.

It was all sudden, the door banging open, surprising the angel as he pushed himself up. He spun his head, ignoring the strands of hair that flew into his vision as the same young boy from the week before desperately clutched onto the covers as his face dripped with a bit of sweat, his eyes darting back and forth.

"Please! Please save my brother!" Arthur sat there in disbelief, wondering how much courage this boy had to come back to Arthur, who had rejected him. The sweat was joined by a few tears, his eyes reddening as they were a bit puffed up. "Please," he muffled again.

Alfred then suddenly came to the door, holding himself in place with his hands placed onto the frame, huffing as well. The boy looked up, jumping up and rushing over to the demon, also pleading to help his brother. Alfred just quickly nodded, the two of them quickly disappearing.

Arthur just sat, a bit dumbstruck. He stared at the empty door that swung a bit with the breeze, the light that poured in until it reached the wall as his chest felt heavy, the memory of the boy still lingering in his mind as he fell into confusion once again.

Then, an idea came into mind. This was the perfect chance to prove himself that he was right, that the kid was deserving everything he was receiving, his punishment. That's right! He thought. Once he sees the brother then all senses of just will return to him! He wouldn't be feeling so strange anymore. He could finally get rid of this, this feeling. Arthur jumped out from under the covers, quickly strapping on his sandal shoes before running out.

He was rather impressed how quickly he got there, but still felt like he was taking too much time. He had ended up flying to the town center, quickly jumping down and running back through the complicated twists and turns of the alley from the week before, almost skidding on the ground with his sharp turns. He sighed with relief when he was the back of Alfred and the boy, the relief quickly turning sour when he heard shouting.

Quietly he walked up behind the two, looking over the boys head as he stared at the scene in front of him. It seemed that the brother got himself into even more trouble, pinned up against the wall with an arm fisting into the shirt. The boy struggled a bit for he was being held high than his height was, shifting the position of his feet to a more comfortable position for him.

"Let, go of me!" The brother tried to yell in an aggravated tone, coming out more in huffs of desperation.

"What did you want?" The boy commended, his voice laced with irritation.

"I said, I quit!" Arthur just stared blankly at the boy, surprised that he was even doing it.

"You can't quit on us, Jackson, and you know you can't! You do owe me after what your cute little brother has done, or should I say sister?" Arthur blinked, the slight twitch catching his eyes as he saw the young boy flinch a bit. "You wouldn't want everyone knowing how much he loves wearing girl clothes do you? He would surely become the mockery of this town." The young boy was now just looking at the ground, his legs shaking a bit as they seemed to weaken, leaning against the building wall for support.

Arthur was more of less mortified as he continued to watch the boy before glancing up at the brother who was mentioned to have been named Jackson, who also casted his glance to the side knowing that the other was right. Something itched in Arthur, something threatening to take control as he stared angrily at such reasoning to go such a far extent.

"It's his punishment." Arthur snapped out as those words rang through his ears, spinning his head to took at Alfred who leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. His face was calm as he stared out at the scene. "It's what he deserves after everything he has done right?" He then gave Arthur a quick glance, who was staring back at him shocked, surprised, and lastly, betrayed.

Arthur opened his mouth to say something, his words falling short as nothing came out, the feeling springing from his stomach once again as sweat trickled down his face. 'And before you start saying it's the others fault, he shouldn't be hanging out with them! It's his punishment for stealing all of those stuff from people. This is the punishment he gets!'

' If he thinks he needs saving than he'll do it on his own. I will not be going around helping those that have committed bad deed on their own.'

'That doesn't matter! What he did is bad and that's that, there is nothing else to it!'

' If he gets into a lot of trouble for stealing than it's his fault. If he hands out with the wrong people than it's his fault. All of this is his fault.'

… But was it? All four echoed through his mind for it. Did he deserve this? Did he deserve to go through this after all? Arthur looked down at the younger boy, who only looked up once an a while to get a look at his brother, his fist clenching down on his shirt, wishing he could do something. But alas, the last time he stuck up to these boys by throwing a tomato at their head, his brother came back with a black eye.

Then a thought came into Arthur's thought which surprised him of how uncaring it sounded, the words echoing through his mind. 'Screw that'

But before Arthur could continue on what he was going to do Alfred grabbed onto Arthur's arm, looking at him square in the eyes before saying, "Of course you can't, because God stated it?"

Arthur's mind went through a turmoil after that, his mind beginning to just spin around, his thoughts on both side mixing in as he couldn't depict which was which, which was wrong and which was right. But he didn't want to do any of this, but God said it is wrong, and he was forced to comply to the other boys wishes, but God said it was wrong, and he did it for his brother, but God said it was wrong, and he just wanted to help him, but God said it was wrong, and protect him, but God said it was wrong, but, but, but, but - God said it was wrong.

'Why don't you try and see for once on your own you god damn angel'

In the end, what caused Arthur's mind to crack was Alfred, just saying one critical sentence at him.

"Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up!" He yelled, surprising Alfred by forcefully shoving him into the wall before rushing over to the boy who were bewildered at what was going on. Arthur then grabbed onto the collar of the boy that kept threatening the brother, bringing down a fist right in the jaw, the frustration that had piled for a week finally released, making his body feel lighter.

He was doing this, because this is what he felt was right. And honestly, Arthur hadn't felt this great in so long.

OOOOOO

The next day, Arthur and Alfred had found themselves hanging upside down from a familiar tree once again, a bit sad that the last day of the weekend was going to be spent doing nothing other than waiting for them to resent what they had done.

After Arthur gave in the first punch the rest of the boys attacked him, Arthur trying his best to defend himself as he randomly threw punches. It didn't take long for Alfred to grin, picking the boy closest to him and giving him a similar attack and when they noticed that they were no match against Arthur and Alfred they skidded away, Arthur's triumphant laugh echoing a bit as he mocked them for being good-for-nothings. The next day Mansi had learned about the fight they had started yesterday, forcing the two to wake up from her voice that thundered with anger, dragging the two out as she yelled at them to go apologize to the families of those that had found their sons coming home covered in bruises and some, with a black eye. And when the two shook their heads, refusing she quickly cocooned them, leaving them hanging as she stomped off to do her chores.

"This is all your fault," Alfred said, starting up the blame game again. Except Arthur didn't say anything back, deep down knowing that it was. He already had given himself a hard time about it, shaming himself for getting so caught up into the moment and going to that far of an extent. Looking back it felt relieving, along with finally getting rid of that feeling in the pit of his stomach. But deep down, he didn't feel a single drop of remorse for what he did to those kids, like he felt for the brother.

"Oh, so no snarky remark today? How rare." Arthur tuned out, ignoring the other as much as he could.

All of a sudden the demon began to move a bit, desperately trying to itch a spot that had begun to tingle a bit. "What are you doing?" Arthur questioned, his voice sounding annoyed as Alfred continued to shake, hitting Arthur.

"I'm - just trying - to itch - a spot!" He said as he tried scratching, failing to relieve himself from the almost unbearable pain.

"Well, stop moving at least. You're causing me to-" but before Arthur could finish Alfred accidently bonks him in the head with his shoulders, the angel's annoyance risen to it's peak.

"I said, stop it!" Arthur demanded through his clenched jaw, head butting the back of Alfred who said a small 'ow'.

"Why you!" Alfred said before randomly moving his body in a motion so he could hit Arthur, who bounced off of him before falling right back down, bonking both of their heads together. Both groaned, stopping their movements as they tried to forget the pain that was sprouting in spot that made contact with the other. Alfred got on the lucky side, Arthur having had not only collided into Alfred's head but also his horn, trying to look up and see if he had any imprints on his skin.

As he continued to fail looking at his forehead he noticed a pair of shoes walking toward him, the grass parting when the foot came down. He looked down from his perspective, narrowing his eyes from the shine of the sun until a head came to block the ray, a face Arthur remembered seeing before.

"Um hi," the boy shyly said, looking at the two hanging people his fingers intertwining with each other.

"What's up?" Alfred questioned, Arthur scrunching his face in a confused fashion, wondering when 'what's up' became a way to greet someone.

"Ah, I just came here to say…" he stuttered looking down at his feet briefly. He kicked at the grass before mumbling, "thank you"

The two just stared at the boy who continued to kick at the ground in awe before Alfred started laughing his voice booming when he noticed the red that had tinted over the boy's face. The boy looked up his fists clenched to the side as he yelled something Arthur didn't catch which he presumably assumed was 'stop!'. He just continued to stare something deep inside of him feeling warm as it blossomed to something bigger and stronger.

Arthur's face slowly brightened, welcoming the thing called 'happiness' to course through him as he smiled, the action not feeling so unnatural like the first time. He was happy, and he liked every second of it.


End file.
